A Simple and Efficient Methodology to Assess Long Term Shoreline Evolution – Case Study

Abstract

The present chapter describes an efficient methodology to predict the impact of a marina on the adjacent indented beaches planform: initially, the impact of the marina on the hydrodynamic agents that induce sand transport in the adjacent indented beaches; finally, the beaches planform response to the modification of the hydrodynamic conditions. The innovative aspect of this analytical methodology concerns the process of estimating the dominant wave energy flux in front of the beaches, which is based on a statistical analysis of the incident wave regime. The methodology was successfully validated through the comparison of the shoreline configurations obtained analytically with the ones extracted from aerial photographs, before and after the construction of the marina.