Abstract
Most of the worldwide historical coastal and harbor structures have been severely damaged by extreme sea storms during their lifetime and hence need to be upgraded, also considering the effects of climate change (Hughes, 2014). Physical modelling is identified as the only feasible approach for the optimization of the upgraded structures, because of the existence of few studies concerning such an issue and the lack of specific design formulae (Burcharth et al. 2014; Croeneveld et al. 1984; Lara et al. 2019; Foti et al. 2020). Therefore, a novel general methodology for the design of upgrading solutions for existing breakwaters based on physical modelling is presented, considering the case study of the Catania Harbor breakwater. The results of the systematic extensive experimental campaign on possible solutions for upgrading the Catania harbor breakwater led to some general practical findings, which can be useful for the design of restoration options for existing breakwater at end of their lifetime.
Highlights
Great part of the historical coastal and harbor defense structures is in shallow-waters and consists of non-conventional breakwaters, which have been repeatedly modified over the years and usually converted into rubble mound structures (Lara et al 2019)
The different structural response of the two sections demonstrates that the deterioration processes suffered by the present armor layer of the Catania harbor breakwater led to the creation of voids of different shape and size along the structure, causing a geometric and structural non-uniformity among the cross sections
Most of the worldwide historical coastal and Harbor breakwaters have been severely damaged by extreme sea storms during their lifetime and need to be upgraded, taking into account the effects of climate change (Hughes, 2014)
Summary
Aging of coastal and harbor defense structures is a worldwide problem, which nowadays goes along with the need of upgrading for protection against the effects of climate change on coastal areas (Hughes, 2014), such as mean sea level rise (Church et al 2013; Galassi and Spada 2014; Lambeck et al 2011), increase of extreme storm surge height and frequency of occurrence (Lowe and Gregory 2005; Vousdoukas et al 2016), inter-annual variability of wave characteristics (Camus et al 2017; Chini et al 2010; Hemer et al 2013; Morim et al 2019) and reduction of extreme sea levels return period (Vousdoukas et al 2018). Despite the practical relevance of the matter concerning the upgrade of aging coastal and harbor breakwaters, few researches has been carried out, which mainly consists in design exercises using only desk study tools or suggested methods for the selection of the possible restoration options for damaged breakwaters (Croeneveld et al 1984) and adaptation solutions to the effects of climate change for existing structures (Burcharth et al 2014; Foti et al 2020; Isobe 2013; Koftis et al 2015). Physical modelling represents the most reliable approach to describe the response of existing or upgraded rubble mound structures and their possible failure modes (Burcharth et al 2014; Croeneveld et al 1984; Lara et al 2019; Foti et al 2020)
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