Optimal shape design of defense structures for minimizing short wave impact

International audienceThe paper presents coastal structures design in the presence of waves by the minimization of a cost function. It aims to show that shape optimization can be efficiently applied to ocean engineering. This is an underlying guiding principle for the design of harbors or offshore breakwaters. We compute the solution of a specific simplified boundary value problem describing the short wave propagation toward a vertical sea cliff or vertical wall and modify accordingly the shape of defense structures in order to minimize a pre-defined cost function taking into account the strength (energy) of the water waves. The optimization procedure relies on a global semi-deterministic search algorithm able to escape from local minima

Beach morphodynamic influence on long-term oil pollution: The Prestige oil spill

The sinking of the Prestige tanker (November, 2002) spilled over 64000 tons of heavy fuel oil. The Prestige oil spill (POS) affected approximately 1000 km of coast belonging to Portugal, France and Spain and more than 600 sandy beaches were polluted along the Atlantic coast of Spain. Since POS, yearly surveys of two oiled sandy beaches (Galicia, NW Spain) have provided evidences regarding the oil pollution behavior and the influence of beach morphodynamics on the dynamics of the contamination. The analysis of wave climate, the extracted suction cores and the detected oil from 2004 and 2009 fieldworks have allowed to promote a conceptual model of the influence of beach morphodynamics on the first steps of an oil spill and to establish the effects on the long-term oil pollutio

Momentum Balance Across a Barrier Reef

This paper reports on a combined experimental and numerical study dedicated to barrier reefs hydrodynamics. A network of pressure sensors and velocity profilers has been deployed for more than 2 months over the Ouano reef barrier, New Caledonia. The primary aim of the study is to assess the relevance of the classical depth-averaged momentum balance in such a complex and poorly documented environment. The combined analysis of experimental and numerical measurements reveals a specific hydrodynamic behavior contrasting with sandy beaches and fringing reefs. The cross-reef current induced by wave breaking over the barrier reef plays an important role in the momentum budget, in particular through friction processes. The hydrodynamic behavior over the barrier reef is thus characterized by the progressive transition from a nearly classical beach type behavior on the forereef, where the gradient of radiation stress is balanced by a barotropic pressure gradient associated to the wave setup, to an open-channel type regime, dominated by frictional head loss. The reef top wave setup shows a clear depth dependency mainly attributed to the forereef curvature. During extreme wave events, the measurements tend to indicate a transition toward a critical hydraulic regime above the reef top. The numerical simulations, involving a non-hydrostatic wave-resolving model coupled to a (Formula presented.) turbulence model, highlight the vertical structure of the flow. Over the reef flat, a classical log-layer profile is observed, in agreement with measurements, while above the forereef an anticlockwise circulation develops under the breaking zone.Environmental Fluid Mechanic

Une nouvelle approche pour la protection des plages : applications à la plage du lido de Sète

Des techniques d'optimisation de formes sont utilisées dans des problèmes du Génie Côtier pour la protection des plages. En collaboration avec le bureau d'étude Bas-Rhône Languedoc ingénierie, un projet d'aménagement concret de la plage du Lido de Sète, utilisant des ouvrages immergés en géotextile, a été étudié. Des solutions optimales, visant à réduire la mise en suspension des sédiments, pour les structures de défenses ont été obtenues à partir d'un modèle hydrodynamique de propagation de houle. Une étude complémentaire à partir d'un modèle de circulation et des travaux expérimentaux en canal à houle permettent ensuite de valider les résultats optimaux numériques obtenus. Shape optimization techniques, focusing on coastal structures design, are used to solve coastal engineering problem. In collaboration with the Bas-Rhône Languedoc engineering Company, a actual development plan concerning the beach of the Lido of Sète has been studied. Optimal solutions, aimed at reducing sediments suspended, for defense structures have been obtained with a hydrodynamic water wave model. An additional study using a circulation model and experimental works in flume tend to validate optimal numerical results

Recurrent arrival of oil to Galician coast: The final step of the Prestige deep oil spill

International audienceYearly monitoring in one of the most affected coastal zones by the Prestige oil spill, namely Nemiña and O Rostro beaches (NW Spain), has been carried out since 2004. Topographic data of beaches revealed seasonal altimetric changes up to 4 m that would prevent the on shore persistence of oil. However, surficial and subsurficial oil was detected in the intertidal area of both beaches in all campaigns. The hydrocarbon analysis confirmed that this oil corresponded to the Prestige oil, even nine years after the accident. Tar balls were highly biodegraded suggesting that the oil was accumulated on the subtidal sediments for a long time and transported to the coast by the action of waves. The present work provides new evidence of the long term persistence of deep oil spills from wrecks in marine areas where the hydrodynamic conditions play a twofold key role, in determining the exposed coastal area to recurrent contamination and in burying and resurfacing the oil in the intertidal zone

The VULSACO project, vulnerability of sandy coast to climate change: method, results and lessons.

International audienc

The VULSACO project, vulnerability of sandy coast to climate change: method, results and lessons.

International audienc