PORT AND COASTAL ENGINEERING

The student will learn about the fundamentals of linear wave theory, wave propagation, sea waves, wave hindcasting methods, wave climate analysis, coastal morphodynamics, harbour and coastal structures. At the end of the course, also thanks to the complementary practical exercises, the student will be able to carry out a full study of the wave climate, which is needed for design of coastal and maritime works.

The skills acquired during the course contribute to the achievement of objectives 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14 and 15 of the 2030 Agenda.

The course is organized as follows:

-traditional lectures, carried out using a participative approach in order to obatin the maximum involvement of the students;

- practical exercises, carried out in informatic classrooms. Such excercis are supervised  in order to be sure that all the students will learn during the classtime how to apply the most important concepts and methods to be used in the field of maritime hydraulics, coastal and port engineering;

-guided tours of the laboratory of hydraulics of DICAR, to teach students about the experimental methods used for the physical modelling of coastal problems;

-field visits  at building sites of maritime and coastal works and/or at the premises of public or privaty bodies involved in the coastal management (Port Authorities, Technical Offices, PEs, etc.).

Students who, following the presentation of the appropriate documentation (D.R. n. 1598 of 2/5/2018), have obtained recognition of the status of student worker, student athlete, student in difficulty and student with disabilities, will be able to follow a personalized learning path whose methods will be agreed with the teacher.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. HYDROSPHERE– Characterization of the hydrosphere – Mean sea level – Tides and currentsi – Wave generation and monitoring.
3. SOURCES OF DATA – The National Hydrographic and Mareographic Service – Bathymetric maps and Beach Atlas – Sea bottom measurements.
4. REGULAR GRAVITY WAVES – Formulation of the 2D problem – Linear wave theory – Engineering properties of linear waves.
5. WAVE PROPAGATION OVER GENTLE SLOPING BEACH - Wave shoaling – Wave breaking – Wave refraction – Wave diffraction.
6. WAVE REFLECTION – Formulation of the problem – Pressure distrubution and Saintflou approximation – Reflection coefficient – Wave reflection due to absorbing caissons – Wave reflection due to docks over piles.
7. WAVE CLIMATE AND WAVE HINDCASTING – Wind generation – Geostrophic wind – Estimation of the wind velocity on the sea surface – Wind data – Geographic fetch and effective fetch.
8. SEA WAVES – Random waves and sea states – Probability distribution of surface elevation – SMB model – Geographic traslation of wave data - Storm – Analysis of extreme events.
9. COASTAL MORPHOLOGY – Characteristics of coastal sediments – Classification of beaches – Beach profiles – Planar beach shape.
10. SEDIMENT TRANSPORT – Flow field action on the sediment dynamics – Bedforms and additional resistences – Coastal sediment transport.
11. EROSION AND DEPOSITION – Description of coastal sites and physiographic unit – Sediment budget – Erosion due to sea level change – Antropic causes of erosion/deposition – Evolution of the shoreline.
12. COASTAL PROTECTION STRUCTURES – Passive and active structures to control beach erosion – Beach nourishment – Mixed solution – Dune stabilization and requalification.
13. GUIDELINES FOR COASTAL PROTECTION – Required data and analysis – Guidelines for selecting the type of coastal structure.
14. HARBOURS – Types of ports - Regulation - Ship - Overview of harbour structures - Layout - Interaction with sediment transport - Channel and harbour basins- Breakwaters (rubble mound and vertical wall) - Berths- Specialized protection of harbour structures from erosion and corrosio - Marinas - Container terminals - Dredging
15. CLIMATE CHANGE AND COASTAL PROTECTION THROUGH NATURE-BASED-SOLUTIONS

1. R. Dean, R. Darlrymple, Water wave mechanics for engineers and scientists, World Scientific, 1991
2. R. Dean, R. Darlrymple, Coastal Processes with Engineering Applications, Cambridge University Press, 2002
3. U.S. Army, Coastal Engineering Research Center, Coastal Engineering Manual, 2006.
4. Thoresen, C.A. (2014). Port Designer’s Handbook: reccomandation and guidelines. ICE Publishing.
5. Tsinker, G.P. (2004). Port engineering: planning, construction, maintenance, and security. John Wiley and Sons, inc.
6. CIRIA, CUR, CETMEF  (2007). The Rock Manual. The use of rock in hydraulic engineering (2nd edition). C683, CIRIA, London.

At least 7-10 days before the date of the final exam, the student must send a draft of the report about the practical excercise on the class topics, printed or via mail. Once revised, the student should bring a copy of the final version of such a report the day appointed for the finals.

During the finals,the student should answer, generally, three oral questions about the topic of the class (refer to the Most frequent questions below).

The evaluation will be based on the:

- quality of the report on practical applications (50%);

- completeness and clarity of the answers to the oral questions (50%).

Active participation to class work will be also accounted for.

Linear wave theory

Dispertion relationship

Wave refraction

Shoaling and breaking

Wave reflection

One-line model of shoreline evolution

Hydraulic and stability design of a rubble mound breakwater 

Beach nourishment

Methods for wave hidcasting

Statistical analysis of extreme events 

Harbour structures

Rubble mound breakwaters

Vertical wall breakwater

Berths