Laboratory experiments on beach change due to nearshore mound placement

Movable-bed large-scale laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the fate and quantify the benefits of nearshore placed dredged material. Two tests were performed on a beach classified as eroding [19] for mounds placed in the active zone described by Hands and Allison [12] at two depths. Mound sand was dyed to provide contrast and to differentiate it from the native sand beach. Beach surveys were performed intermittently during each experiment with a laser scanner. In addition to beach change elevations, the scanner provided RGB color components, which permitted tracking of the mound sand. The experiments showed that the mound sand dispersed rapidly and was transported mainly downdrift. Sand accumulation was observed on the beach onshore and adjacent to the mounds mainly due to wave sheltering of the mounds described as the longshore effect by [28]. There was little contribution to onshore accretion from cross-shore migration of the mounds. Beach response was similar to that of an offshore breakwater in which the mounds provided a wave shadow zone to the leeward beach. The results from the experiment will provide validation data for the numerical morphological model C2SHORE [15].