Flood hazard reduction by mangroves

Although mangrove forests have proven to contribute to wave dissipation significantly, these ecosystem are threatened mainly by the expanding aquaculture. International or nationwide applied greenbelt policies are often used for the preservation of the mangroves and hence the flood hazard reduction, without taking local (hydrodynamic) conditions...

A numerical assessment of land reclamation as a strategy for nearshore diamond mining

On the south-west coast of Namibia, diamonds were trapped during the Quaternary on bedrock platforms and in bedrock gullies. These were formed by differential erosion due to wave action. The diamonds originated from Kimberlite diamond pipes within the catchment area of the Orange River in South-Africa and Botswana. This river eroded the diamonds...

Project South Durban: Understanding the Sediment Transports and Budgets around the Durban DigOut Port, South Africa

Durban is located on the east coast of South Africa in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is one of South Africa’s biggest cities and has one of the busiest ports in Africa. To maintain Durban’s current economic position the Durban Port has to expand, which is problematic due to a lack of space. A solution is to develop a completely new port: the...

Implementation of wave effects in the unstructured Delft3D suite

Recently an unstructured version of Delft3D, named D-Flow FM, has been developed at Deltares. This tool shows high potentials for coastal modelling due to the flexibility in domain resolution and unstructured grids. This MSc thesis focussed on implementing wave effects in D-Flow FM with satisfying results. In addition, a coupling system is built...

Reflection and Diffraction Around Breakwaters

Diffraction diagrams are frequently utilized by engineers within the feasibility and early design phases of a project. These helpful graphics, based on directional spreading and wavelength, can be used for a number of layouts and angles of incidence. In spite of the tendency to design breakwaters for the fullest dissipation of wave energy,...

The Effectiveness of Mangroves in Attenuating Cyclone- induced Waves

A study of the effectiveness of mangroves in attenuating cyclone- induced waves was done using the SWAN 40.55MOD numerical model. Hydraulic parameters during extreme events and local mangrove vegetation parameters were estimated for the Kanika Sands mangrove island near the upcoming Dhamra Port in Orissa, India. Simplified generic analyses were...

Analysis and modelling of wave spectra on the Caspian Sea

The discovery of great oil reserves located under the northern part of the Caspian Sea has lead to an increased interest in the wave climate in this area. Statistical analysis of wave measurements is insufficient to determine reliable design wave conditions on the northern part of the Caspian Sea, because the amount of available wave...