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Bridge scouring is one of the factors affecting the safety of bridge. Considering the energy loss and sand-bed, a prediction model equation (PMEL) had been proposed to estimate the cylindrical bridge piers scour depth. The influence of energy loss on the accuracy of local scour depth prediction was discussed. The energy loss caused by the interaction between the flow field with the pier and the riverbed was introduced, and the reduction of effective peak velocity in a reciprocating flow was considered. This paper adopted eighteen data sets from cylindrical bridge piers scouring experiments that combined numerical simulation analysis. Then the relationship between the influence parameter H r (the non-dimensional effective fluid height) and V / V c (flow intensity) was established to guide the selection of calculated water depth. Finally, compared to directly using numerical simulation to solve the local scouring depth of bridge, the PMEL improved the solving efficiency. The accuracy of PMEL has been validated through physical experiments, standardized equations, and results from other researches. Compared with the local scour depth prediction model, without considering energy loss, it was found that the calculation accuracy had increased by 27%. • A local scour prediction model for Cylindrical bridge piers considering energy loss is established. • The relationship between effective water depth and flow intensity was proposed. • Compared to the standard equation and other prediction models, the new model has lower errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]