A feasibility study of detached breakwater designs using a combined refraction/diffraction wave model, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Boon, John D.

Item

A feasibility study of detached breakwater designs using a combined refraction/diffraction wave model, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Boon, John D.

Abstract

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, together with management agencies in the commonwealth, has a continuing interest in the matter of beach preserva~ion along Virginia's Atlantic coastline. This interest is particularly acute along the coastline fronting the resort city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, where some 225,000 cubic meters of artificial sand nourishment are required each year to maintain recreational beaches. Wright et al.(1987), in their detailed report on beach dynamics from Cape Henry to False Cape, have stated that offshore loss of sand is a major cause of shoreline erosion in the Virginia Beach sector. Because of the narrowness and steepness of the nearshore zone in that sector, beaches are highly sensitive to offshore sand transport, a key factor in the erosion that now occurs 15% to 40% of the time. They further observed that structure-based mitigation efforts, with the structures now in use (bulkheads), are ineffective in retaining the fill placed in front of them. (,,,)