Impact of bridge pier on the stability of ice jam

River ice jam is one of the most important issues in rivers in cold regions during winter time. With the extra solid boundary due to the ice cover, the flow condition under ice-covered conditions is completely different from that of a open channel flow. The presence of bridge piers will further change the velocity field around the bridge piers. As a consequence, the formation and the accumulation of ice jams in the vicinity of the bridge pier will be affected. On the other side, the formation of an ice jam around the piers can cause extra turbulence to reduce the stability of a river bridge. The present study focuses on the stress analysis of the ice jam in the vicinity of a bridge pier. By developing a governing equation for describing the equilibrium state of an ice jam, the stability of the ice jam around bridge piers is analyzed and determined. As seen from the field data in literature, the stability estimations of an ice jam around bridge piers determined by the present method agree well with the field observations. Therefore, the proposed approach can be used for the prediction of the formation of ice jams around bridge piers.