To ensure proper functioning of planned coastal and estuarine infrastructure projects it is crucial to predict the sediment transport and the resulting morphological changes along coasts and estuaries. This is also important in the development of appropriate management options for existing coastal land due to typical annual climatic conditions and/or coastal disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis etc.
Infrastructure projects along the coasts include land development for tourism, the development of ports and navigation channels, shore protection projects, etc. Such projects can be affected by morphological changes for instance
- land loss and flooding due to shoreline erosion
- widening of tidal inlets
- breaching of barrier islands during extreme events
- collapse of marine structures due to erosion around structures
- navigation hazards due to sedimentation at tidal inlets
- dredged access channels, etc.
To ensure the success of a project and/or proper management of existing facilities, it is important that these problems be identified at the planning stage so that remedial measures can be proposed before the cost of remediation becomes prohibitive. For carrying out such investigations DHI provides a range of services to clients around the world .
DHI's approach is to develop engineering solutions based on a sound understanding of the physical processes. These complex problems are investigated using a combination of field surveys, state-of-the art numerical models (LITPACK, MIKE 21 and MIKE 3) and DHI's professional experience from carrying out projects worldwide.