Introduction to Coastal Dynamics and Shoreline Protection

This book provides an integrated approach to coastal dynamics and shoreline protection, aided by the use of specific case studies. It was developed from lecture notes for a course in Coastal Dynamics and Shoreline Protection addressed to students of Environmental Sciences, and for this reason it is organized in such a way as to introduce the reader to the fundamental principles of the topics discussed in each chapter. The text introduces both undergraduate and graduate engineering students, as well as practicing engineers, to the different meteo-marine factors that influence coastal dynamics. Using practical and theoretical application, this book explores factors such as winds, sea level variations, offshore waves (predicted and measured, regular and random), wave transformation and breaking as well as topics of sediment transport computation, beach profile and shoreline modeling and coastal protection systems. Some of the topics discussed are as follows: coastal remediation and management; mechanisms of sediment transport such as linear and higher order waves, random waves and spectra, wave transformation in the coastal zone, water levels, short-term and long-term wave prediction, sediment transport, shoreline and beach profile modeling; alternative protection systems; basic elements of hydraulic and structural design for both rigid structures and beach fills.