Modeling Dredged Material Disposed in Open water

Physical model disposal tests at a 1:50 scale have been conducted to provide guidance on numerical model developments and to provide data sets for numerical model verification. These tests have been conducted with a model split-hull barge and a multibin hopper vessel. Both stationary and moving disposals have been monitored. Results imply that the bulk behavior of the disposal material in both the descent and bottom surge phases can be approximately scaled to the prototype. Visual observations have resulted in modifications to an existing numerical model such that the disposal is represented by a series of downward convecting clouds from which material can be stripped