Culverts are crucial components of surface water drainage systems, often favored for their cost-effectiveness compared to structures like bridges. However, scouring at the upstream and downstream ends can undermine culvert foundations, potentially leading to collapse and significant damage to surrounding structures. Additionally, culvert blockage during flood events alters the flow structure, increasing the risk of failure. This research investigates the scour of culverts in sandy environments and suggests using barrels to minimize it under various flow and obstruction conditions. This study experimentally investigates the reduction scouring process at the downstream culvert with different inlet blockage rates. It spans flow rates from 4.8 to 20 l/s across both box and circular culverts for two different hydrographs created in seven steps for unsteady flow conditions, while steady flow conditions were analyzed at flow rates of 13.8 l/s and 20 l/s were chosen based on peak discharge in two hydrographs, reducing the scouring process by using the 10 to 11 barrels in (50 mm width, 50 mm length, and 150 mm height) at downstream the culvert sorting in different locations in three options. We conducted experimental tests under both steady and unsteady flow conditions for two distinct hydrographs. Ninety-six experiments are carried out. The median grain size (d50 = 1.77 mm) of sediment material was used in this investigation. The findings were compared to the base case for the same shape and level of blockage. Results indicate that barrels notably diminish scour under steady conditions, reducing the maximum depth of scour (dsm), and the formation of scour holes compared to the base case in the same shape and blockage rate. About (Xsm), the position of maximum scour decreased in most cases when applied to the barrels, and the comparison between circular and box data sets reveals that the maximum scour depth values are greater in the circular data sets than in the box data sets. During unsteady flow, barrels effectively in both shapes when used; a barrel’s maximal scour depth location often reduces the maximum depth of scour (dsm), the position of maximum scour depth (Xsm), and scour hole formation when the used culverts are unobstructed or partially obstructed, and the evaluation of scour depth was often greater in circular culverts during the rising limb of the hydrograph compared box shape for all scenarios. However, when we use an inlet blockage, it does not always result in increases in deepest scour depth in both steady and unsteady flow conditions. Nevertheless, there's a risk of overflow, especially in circular culverts with significant blockage in both flow conditions. The study underscores the importance of hydraulic factors in scour mitigation to improve culvert performance. Comparisons between steady and unsteady flows reveal consistent trends in souring process reduction, emphasizing the potential of barrels for effective mitigation.
