Keywords

waves, shoreline erosion, coastal engineering, shear stress, sediment transport, recreational boating, shoreline management, coastal sustainability

Subjects

engineering, hydraulics, geomorphology, sediment transport, shoreline management, coastal sustainability

Description

Data and meta data published in G.; Peterson, I.; Cannon, D.; Kibler, K. Hydrodynamic signatures of recreational boat wakes and their influence to sediment entrainment along the shoreline of a shallow estuary. Sustainability 2022, 14.

Abstract

Wave energy from recreational boat wakes is associated with erosion and degradation of shoreline ecotones. However, wake effects are often assumed to be negligible when boating lanes are located far from shore. In this study, field experiments were conducted to characterize hydrodynamics of recreational boat wakes at the shoreline of a shallow estuary as offshore sailing-line distance varied from 50 to 200m. Results indicate that wake events were considerably more energetic than ambient conditions, with an average 20% increase in wave height, 190% increase in near-bed orbital velocity, and 110% increase in wave-induced shear stress. Wake events generated farther from shore had longer wave periods, which increased instantaneous orbital velocities and wave-induced bed stresses. Integration of wake-induced shear stresses with shoreline sediment distributions indicated that wakes were competent to move shoreline sediments up to the D60 (1-3 mm), while currents and wind waves were incapable of moving sediments larger than the D20 (~0.2 mm). Importantly, shear stress analysis suggested that wakes generated 100-200m from shore may have similar or even increased potential for sediment entrainment at the shoreline as compared to wakes generated closer to shore. This finding has important implications for the management and mitigation of wake-related shoreline erosion.

Contributors

Gabriela Ford, Iris Peterson, Dr. David Cannon and Dr. Kelly Kibler

Date Created

Spring 4-19-2022

Semester

Spring

Type

Other

Language

English

Rights

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

College

College of Engineering & Computer Science

Unit

CECE

Department

CECE

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