Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1720638 Coastal Engineering 2015 8 Pages PDF
Abstract

•The study explored the wave reduction, sediment collection of the WSSC system.•The system reduces incoming wave heights by 84 to 90%.•Sediment collection efficiency ranges from 13% to 15%.•The mathematical model fits the sediment collection data reasonably well.•Sensitivity study showed that wave height and initial concentration are important factors.

Shoreline erosion along open water bodies and waterways is a major cause in the conversion of wetlands and uplands to open water habitat. Conventional shoreline protective structures are expensive to construct in these environments, and may impede environmental exchanges essential for connectivity and functionality. The structure, Wave Suppression and Sediment Collection (WSSC) System that contains multiple Wave Robber™ units, is an alternative for shoreline protection that maintains environmental connectivity. The primary goals of this study are to evaluate the wave reduction and sediment collection performance of the unit as well as optimize its design. This study showed that the unit reduces 84 to 90% of the wave energy while collecting and retaining fine-grained sediment. A mathematical model fits the sediment collection data reasonably well with average correlation coefficients of about 0.87. Modeling results show that the sediment collection efficiency of the unit for fine-grained sediment is about 14%. Total area of flow through the unit was determined to be more important than the area distributed among the number and size of pipes. The sensitivity study shows that wave height and initial concentration are the most important factors effecting sediment collection.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Engineering Ocean Engineering
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