Hydrodynamic Performance Assessment of a Geo-Synthetic Seawall

Abstract

In the recent years, various geo-synthetic components find an extensive application in civil and coastal engineering practice. Commonly, geo-synthetics have a wide application for secondary or tertiary purposes, such as filtration, separation, barrier, reinforcement, whereas, they can be potentially exploited for various other applications in the coastal engineering practice. A sustainable seawall cross-section comprising different geo-synthetic products was proposed to be erected along the Pallana Beach ([Formula: see text] N and [Formula: see text] E), located in Alleppey district of Kerala along the south-west Indian coastline. Since the subsoil at the location is poorly graded, it was decided to replace the conventional materials like rock boulders and concrete armour units with geo-synthetic products. A comprehensive physical model study was conducted to assess the hydrodynamic performance (i.e. reflection, run-up, and pressure distribution) of the geo-synthetic seawall cross-section for a wide range of random wave characteristics and two water depth conditions. The relative overtopping rates for the seawall at varying water levels are computed conservatively from the guidelines prescribed by the EurOtop Manual and XGB Overtopping model.