Wave overtopping layer thickness on the crest of rubble mound seawalls

Ali Koosheh*, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Nick Cartwright, Rodger Tomlinson, Marcel R.A. van Gent

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

During storms, ensuring the protection of people, vehicles and infrastructure on the crest of coastal structures from wave overtopping hazards is crucial. The thickness of the wave overtopping layer is a key variable used for assessing safety and maintaining a secure design. Traditionally, this parameter is associated with the height difference between the fictitious wave run-up level exceeded by 2% of waves and the crest freeboard of coastal structures. This study aims to investigate the wave overtopping layer thickness on the crest of rubble mound seawalls. To achieve this, a series of 125 small-scale 2D physical model tests were conducted on a two-layer rubble mound seawall with an impermeable core and slopes of 1:1.5 and 1:2. The obtained results indicated that the existing empirical formulas, originally developed for dikes, underestimate the overtopping layer thickness on the studied seawall. Therefore, modifications were made to the formulas found in the literature specifically tailored for rubble mound seawalls. The newly proposed formulas for estimating overtopping layer thickness at both the seaward edge and the middle of the crest showed improvements compared to the existing formulas.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104441
Number of pages11
JournalCoastal Engineering
Volume188
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Overtopping layer thickness
  • Rubble mound seawalls
  • Wave overtopping

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