Suchergebnisse

Low lying coastal areas are ones of the most vulnerable zones to the effects of sea level rise and storm surge. An example is the Belgian coastline. In order to protect it from erosion and flooding on the long-term, the Flemish Government approved in 2010 the Coastal Safety Master Plan, a driving plan that provides general solutions for coastal protections looking ahead to the year 2050. The coastal town of Wenduine is one of the weakest links along the Belgian coastal defense line due to the low freeboard of the existing dike and the high population density in this area. A solution could be to heighten the existing sea walls. However, a compromise needs to be found between social and technical requirements since the elevated touristic and recreational value of the area makes very high storm return walls not acceptable as solution for the upgrading of the existing dike. Therefore the construction of a new curve-faced wave return walls, coupled with beach nourishment has been adopted to meet required mean wave overtopping discharge standards foreseen in the Master Plan. The wave loading on such kind of walls have to be characterized for a proper design. The present work illustrates the final results of the experimental campaign conducted at Flanders Hydraulics Research (Antwerp) to assess the forces exerted by sea waves onto those curve-faced walls within a stilling wave basing concept.

This work presents the results of an experimental investigation on the e_ects of a sequence of storms on wave overtopping at a nearly vertical battered seawall at the back of a sandy foreshore. The experiments were carried out in the Large Wave Flume (GWK) at Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany), as part of the research project ICODEP (Impact of Changing fOreshore on flood DEfence Performance), within the European Union programme Hydralab+. The layout consisted of a 10/1 battered seawall and a natural sandy foreshore with an initial 1:15 slope. The beach sand had a nominal diameter of 0.30 mm. Three storm sequences were simulated, where each consisted of three individual storms. Each storm was divided into six steps in which the wave conditions and still water level were varied to represent the peak of an actual storm. The six sea states were based on a JONSWAP spectral shape, with wave heights roughly between 0.6 m and 0.8 m. Two still water levels were tested. For the central two steps the level was such that the freeboard was only 0.14 m and almost all waves were overtopping. In the remaining steps low still water levels were employed, leaving a narrow swash zone. Two storm profiles were considered, the first one with a lower level of energy and the second one with a higher one. These were combined in the three di_erent sequences. All the tested wave conditions were designed to be erosive for the beach, with no recovery in between. Each sequence started from a plain beach configuration and the beach was not restored in between storms. The measurements included waves, pressure and forces, sediment concentrations and flow velocity together with overtopping. The profile of the beach was measured after each sea state tested.

This work presents the results of an experimental investigation on the effects of a sequence of storms on wave overtopping at a nearly vertical battered seawall at the back of a sandy foreshore. The experiments were carried out in the Large Wave Flume (GWK) at Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany), as part of the research project ICODEP (Impact of Changing fOreshore on flood DEfence Performance), within the European Union programme Hydralab+. The layout consisted of a 10/1 battered seawall and a natural sandy foreshore with an initial 1:15 slope. The beach sand had a nominal diameter of 0.30 mm. Three storm sequences were simulated, where each consisted of three individual storms. Each storm was divided into six steps in which the wave conditions and still water level were varied to represent the peak of an actual storm. The six sea states were based on a JONSWAP spectral shape, with wave heights roughly between 0.6 m and 0.8 m. Two still water levels were tested. For the central two steps the level was such that the freeboard was only 0.14 m and almost all waves were overtopping. In the remaining steps low still water levels were employed, leaving a narrow swash zone. Two storm profiles were considered, the first one with a lower level of energy and the second one with a higher one. These were combined in the three different sequences. All the tested wave conditions were designed to be erosive for the beach, with no recovery in between. Each sequence started from a plain beach configuration and the beach was not restored in between storms. The measurements included waves, pressure and forces, sediment concentrations and flow velocity together with overtopping. The profile of the beach was measured after each sea state tested.