Coastal Sediment Transport Modeling for Engineering Applications

Abstract

An effort has been made to improve quantitative understanding of beach morphology and stone structural damage progression and to develop a simple and robust model that is suited for engineering applications. The effort for the last 10 years has produced the cross-shore numerical model CSHORE, which is presently limited to the case of alongshore uniformity and uniform cohesionless sediment including sand, gravel, and stone. CSHORE consists of the following components: a combined wave and current model based on time-averaged continuity, cross-shore and longshore momentum, wave energy or action, and roller energy equations; a sediment transport model for suspended load and bed load; a permeable layer model to account for porous flow and energy dissipation; formulas for irregular wave run-up; a probabilistic model for an intermittently wet and dry zone on impermeable and permeable bottoms for the purpose of predicting wave overwash of a dune and armor layer damage progression, respectively; a drag force model for piles interacting with waves and sand dunes; and a dike erosion model by irregular wave action. The theories and formulas in CSHORE, which were published piece by piece, are assembled in this special issue to highlight the progress and shortcomings as well as to integrate coastal hydrodynamics, sediments, and structures for practical applications.