Coastal Engineering
CE54300
Credit Hours:
3Learning Objective:
- Calculate and interpret the significance of basic coastal hydrodynamic processes associated with water, waves, water levels, and sediment transport. (homework, quizzes, projects, exams)
- Identify and describe coastal protection measures and methods and their design considerations (presentations, projects, quizzes, exams)
- Find, interpret, and utilize physical data and/or model output to support design (homework, projects, exams)
- Design elements of coastal protection measures within a simplified subset of design constraints (homework, projects, exams)
Description:
This course provides an introduction to the field of coastal engineering, with exposure to both fundamental physical processes and also design methods used by practicing engineers. The first part of the course introduces the field of coastal engineering, followed by an in-depth look at water wave properties and water level variations. Subsequent work focuses on design approaches for coastal sediment transport and guest lectures from practicing coastal engineers. Coursework is a combination of online lectures and quizzes, readings, case studies, homework assignments, and design project. The use of available data and model output to drive coastal design and assessment is stressed throughout the course, and students will gain a familiarity with different information sources and tools used in coastal engineering design.
Topics Covered:
- Introduction/overview of coastal engineering
- Coastal hydrodynamics
- Water waves (wave descriptors, dispersion, classification, shoaling, refraction, breaking)
- Water levels (spectrum of processes, tides, Great Lakes, sea level rise, storm surge)
- Coastal design
- Information sources (models, buoys, tide gages)
- Design conditions (waves, water levels, site constraints)
- Design of Coastal Structures
- Types of structures; Armor stability; Wave run-up and overtopping, wave transmission and reflection
- Introduction to shoreline protection measures (Types of structures, basic design guidance and principles)
Prerequisites:
A first course in fluid mechanics or hydraulics; ability to use Microsoft Excel; some programming experience (e.g. with Matlab or Python) is helpfulApplied / Theory:
60/40Homework:
Weekly homework assignments, collected through Gradescope.Projects:
Projects focus on an actual coastal location, and involve the analysis of wave and water level information in order to design a coastal structure or shoreline protection measure.Exams:
Two hour-long exams, given online.Textbooks:
Coastal Engineering: Processes, Theory and Design Practice, 3rd Ed. (2018), Dominic Reeve, Andrew Chadwick, Christopher Fleming (CRC Press) Available in print or free online through Purdue Libraries