Guide banks are constructed alongside rivers to direct floodwater flow through a defined waterway when structures like bridges are built. They extend upstream and downstream of structures. Guide banks have curved upstream and downstream heads connected by a straight shank. Their design considers the length of the clear waterway, length of the guide banks, radius of curved heads, cross-section, slope protection with stone pitching, and a launching apron to protect the slope from scouring. Formulas are provided to calculate parameters like stone pitching thickness, scour depth, and quantity of stone required for the apron based on the river's maximum discharge.

1. Guide Banks (or Guide Bunds)
Rivers in flood plains submerge very large area
during flood periods.
When some structure is to be constructed across
such a river (e.g. bridge, weir, etc) it is very
expensive to construct the work spanning the
whole width of the river.

2. Therefore, guide banks are constructed to
imprison(send down) the flow of the water within a
reasonable waterway.
They extend both upstream and downstream of the
abutments of the structure.
They are generally provided in pairs (couple)
symmetrical in plan.
The main parts of a guide bank are:
1. Upstream curved head
2. Downstream head
3. Shank or straight portion which joins the two curved
heads
4. Slope protection and launching apron
Con…

4.  where P = Lacey’s Regime perimeter (m),
Q = maximum discharge (m³/s)
Generally, L≈ 1.1 to 1.25 P.
River Training Structures
Design Criteria for Guide Banks
a. Length of Clear Waterway:
to be provided between the guide banks or the abutments of
the work
P  4.75 Q
1
2

6. Con…

7. b. Length of Guide Bank:
According to Spring, length of guide banks on the upstream
side from the axis of the work should be equal to 1.1L and
downstream side from the axis of the work 0.1L to 0.2L.
Other formulas (e.g. Gales) depending on the discharge are
also recommended:
Upstream of axis of work:-
1.25 L ------------------for Qmax up to 20,000 m³/s
1.25L – 1.5L ---------for 21,000<Qmax<42,000 m³/s
1.5L--------------------- for Qmax >42,000 m³/s
Downstream of axis of work:
0.25L------------------- for all sizes of rivers.
Con…

8. c. Radius of Curved Heads:
Upstream curved heads – sweep angle of 120° to 145°;
R = 0.45L
Downstream curved heads – sweep angle of 45° to 60°
and half radius of upstream curved head;
R1 = ½ R
d. Cross section of Guide Banks:
Top width not less than 3 m
Constructed of locally available material, usually sand
(earthen, soil)
Side slopes not steeper than 2:1 (H:V)
Free board of 1.25 to 1.5 m above anticipated flood level
Con…

9. e. Slope Protection for Guide Banks:
Water face protected by stone pitching (each stone weighing
T = thickness of stone pitching (m)
Q = maximum discharge (m³/s)
Con…
3
40 to 50 kg
Rear face slope provided with vegetal cover to protect it
against wind & rain erosion
At both curved ends the pitching is done on both front and
rear faces
The pitching as recommended by
Inglis is given by
1
T  0 . 0 6 Q 
where

10. f. Launching apron:
The slope of the guide bank may be damaged due to
scour, which may occur at the toe of the bank with
consequent undermining and collapse of the stone
pitching.
In order to protect the slope against such damage a stone
cover known as launching apron is laid from the toe of the
bank on the horizontal river bed
Slope of scoured face is assumed to be 2:1 (H:V).
Thus if D is the depth of scour below the bed of the river
then the length of the scour face will be= (√5) D.
Depth of scour below high flood level (H.F.L.) = K Rs
Con….

11. f = silt factor
d = mean size of bed material (mm)
The thickness of the apron in launched position is
assumed to be 1.25T.
Thus, the quantity of stone required per meter length
of the launching apron will be
(√5) D x 1.25T = 2.80 TD
Width of launching apron = 1.5D (usually).
River Training Structures
 Lacey´s regime scour depth (m)
 
Q = maximum discharge (m³/s)
3
1
 Q 
Rs  0.47
f

f  1.75 d

12. Inglis and Joglekar gave the following
values for maximum scour depth:-
1


 f
 Q  3
D s  1 . 9 
1


 f
 Q  3
D s  0 . 9 5 
1
 
 Q  3
D s  1 .3 
f

•Maximum scour depth downstream of bridge:
Maximum scour depth around bridge piers:
•Maximum scour depth at nose of guide banks of a large radius:

13. River Training Structures