Coastalock™ Performance on a Permeable Breakwater Slope: Model Tests on the Influence of a Permeable Core, Unit Modifications and Toe Support on the Hydraulic Performance of an Ecological Armour Unit

Coastal areas face increasing threat from erosion. The use of coastal protection structures is imperative to counter this. Concrete “armouring” is widely used due to durability and cost-effectiveness. Conventional methods of “armouring” result in habitat degradation and loss of biodiversity. ECOncrete developed Coastalock, an armour unit...

The Maximum Effect of Wind on Wave Overtopping at Rubble Mound Breakwaters with the Influence of the Slope and a Crest Element

The impact of climate change, particularly the rise in sea levels, obstructs the effectiveness of existing coastal structures. Additionally, climate change can also have an amplifying effect on wind speeds (Takagi & Esteban, 2013). Without proper control, the accumulation of changing environmental boundary conditions could lead to disastrous...

Computing breakwater stability using SWASH: The effects of model choices, shallow foreshore and oblique waves on the stability of a rubble mound breakwater

On the east coast of Romania, at Eforie, coastal erosion manifests. To strengthen the coastal area a large coastal protection project was setup involving beach nourishment combined with the construction of breakwaters. The breakwaters are designed with the well-known modified Van der Meer formulas. To ensure confidence in the breakwaters...

Hydraulic performance of CoastaLock armour units

With the advance of urbanisation in coastal regions comes an increase in armoured shorelines and the destruction of coastal marine habitats. To combat this, ECOncrete Tech Ltd has developed a new eco-friendly armour unit, the CoastaLock. With its ecological advantages proven, its hydraulic performance is still largely unknown. This thesis aims...

Experimental investigation of the spatial and temporal variation of rocking armour units: Rocking Revisited V

The purpose of this MSc thesis is to do an experimental study into the spatial and temporal variation of rocking armour units. Armour units on a breakwater slope under wave loading can sometimes start to move back and forth, this phenomenon is known as rocking. Rocking can lead to significant impacts between armour units, which can result in...

Crest stability of XblocPlus armoured low crested breakwaters

XblocPlus is a single layer armour unit that is recently developed by BAM Infraconsult. It is the successor of the Xbloc. An important advantage of the XblocPlus is the relatively high construction speed compared to the Xbloc. The increased construction speed is caused by the possibility to place XblocPlus in a uniform pattern and the relatively...

Stability of the first row of an XblocPlus armour layer: A physical model study using Digital Displacement Analysis

XblocPlus is a new uniformly placed single layer armour unit, developed by Delta Marine Consultants (BAM Infraconsult). This report focuses on the stability of the first row of armour units, as this row is interlocked less than other rows. When the first row starts to slide, this is a big threat to the stability of the entire armour layer....

Stability Optimisation of the top armour row of a breakwater with Xbloc^Plus units

The Xbloc^Plus (referred to as Xbloc+) is a new, uniformly placed single layer armour unit, developed by Delta Marine Consultants (BAM Infraconsult). Although a breakwater armour layer with Xbloc^Plus combines material saving and easy placement with increased stability, the transition between the armour layer and the crest is...

Hydraulic Performance of Xbloc+ Armor Unit

In recent years, the use of Xbloc units has increased exponentially. However, the placement of this unit is not always done as randomly as it should be and consequently, the stability of the armor is affected. In order to overcome this problem, Delta Marine Consultants is developing a new armor unit called Xbloc+ that has a regular placement. In...

Experimental study on the wave overtopping performance of Xbloc+ armour unit

Nowadays, the use of concrete armour units on rubble mound breakwaters designs has become a common practice. Concrete armour units can be placed in a single layer system or in a double layer system and can its placement can be either random or uniform. Recently, Delta Marine Consultants have designed a new armour unit called Xbloc+. This new...