A comprehensive review of the local scour due to vortical flow around a cylindrical bridge pier under steady current is presented in this paper. The mechanism of the formation of vortices, the size, velocity and strength of horseshoe vortex (HSV), formation of the HSV by the separation of laminar and turbulent boundary layer and the scour around a cylindrical pier due to vortices have been presented. The complexity involved in the scour-related calculations, and the scope for future research are discussed in the last section.