Scour of Gulf Coast beaches due to wave action. Preprint.

Date

1971

Authors

Chesnutt, C.B.
Schiller, R.E., Jr.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Offshore Technology Conference

Abstract

This study was the first attempt to investigate scour in front of sea walls and dune barriers for conditions simulating Texas Gulf Coast beaches. Texas beach sand, consistent in grain size with the area from Sabine Pass to mid-way of Padre Island, was used in the experiments. Three typical Texas beach slopes, 1:40, 1:70 and 1:100 were studied. Sea walls with an inclination of 15 degrees, 30 degrees and 90 degrees from the horizontal were inserted in each of the 3 slopes for 1 wave condition and in the 1:40 slope for 4 wave conditions. The position of the sea wall (30 degrees and 90 degrees) with respect to the point where the wave breaks was studied for 1 wave condition. Waves acting on a laboratory beach with a slope of 1:40 without a seawall build a berm or dune barrier with a slope of 10 degrees to 15 degrees. Test of scour in front of these dune barriers have shown that the ultimate scour depth is approximately equal to the deep water wave height. The sea wall, when placed in the position of X/Xb= 0.5 to 0.67 (where X is the distance from the sea wall to the natural shoreline and Xb is the distance from the point where waves break to the shoreline) was subject to greater scour than at any other position along the profile. As the beach slope flattened scour just in front of the wall decreased. As wave height increased scour increased.

Description

p. 269-278

Keywords

wave action, wave effects, sea walls, scouring, beaches, beach erosion, dunes, mathematical models, modeling, simulation, wave dynamics

Citation