Navigation projects at coastal inlets must be designed, operated, and maintained in a complex hydrodynamic and morphologic environment. Inlet morphology responds to engineering actions in several time scales ranging from short-term, as in response to storms to slow, gradual change caused by waves and currents. Because the hydrodynamics, inlet morphology, navigation channel, and longshore sediment transport are connected, navigation project maintenance and natural processes must be estimated to minimize channel dredging and to promote sediment bypassing, either by natural processes or through dredging-related activities. To meet the challenges of channel deepening nationwide and creation of new channels, quantitative predictive models must be developed that can calculate navigation channel and morphology change and connect the processes to the adjacent beaches. |
Description of Research