Littoral Sand Transport from Longshore Currents

Abstract

Prediction of sand transport rates along beaches in a shore-parallel direction is necessary to determine: 1) Dredging quantities at inlets; 2) the effective life of various coastal structures such as jetties; and 3) the magnitude of erosion/accretion on beaches adjacent in inlets. Most computations of the littoral sand transport rate have previously been determined by computing a wave parameter dependent quantity termed the longshore energy flux factor, P\di\ds. The most widely used equations for sand transport are, in fact linear in the quality P\di\ds.