Force measurements on storm walls due to overtopping waves: a middle-scale model experiment

The so-called post-overtopping processes are of wide interest for coastal engineers. Dedicated middle-scale tests have been carried out to measure impacts of an overtopped wave on a storm wall at low freeboard coastal structures. A smooth dike slope and a vertical wall, both with a promenade at crest level and a storm wall at the end of it, have been tested in a scale of 1/6. Impacts have been measured both with pressure and force transducers; the two systems provided similar results. A correlation between the hydraulic conditions and the wave impacts on the storm wall is proposed. Further analysis is ongoing to also include the post-overtopping characteristics to increase insight on the acting parameters in this proces