This paper introduces a new tool for predicting and analyzing scour in rock, cohesive, and alluvial materials. GoldDFE is a computer based software tool that computes, in three dimensions, the scour caused by an impinging jet of water, such as that from dam overtopping or spillway operation. The basis of the tool is the Erodibility Index technology (Wittier, et. al., 1998) developed under the Dam Foundation Erosion study by the US Bureau of Reclamation. Golder Associates, working with Colorado State University, and in cooperation with Reclamation, Pacific Gas & Electric, the Electric Power Research Institute, Western Area Power Administration, Niagara Mohawk, and the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, developed a graphical, user-friendly computer program for analyzing the extent of scour in all types of earth materials. GoldDFE expedites the scour analysis process through an intuitive, task-based graphical interface that provides immediate feedback to the engineer throughout the modeling effort. GoldDFE combines a comprehensive simulation of the flow hydraulics with a detailed spatial characterization of the site geology using the Erodibility Index (Annandale, 1995) to quantify the scour process.
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