Evaluation method of suction rate of backfilling materials from a coastal dike or a seawall

Abstract

Evidence shows that coastal dikes and seawalls could be damaged or destroyed by coastal scours and the suction of backfilling materials. As the impacts of coastal erosion and global warming become severer, it is necessary to be able to predict the suction rate of backfilling materials from underneath a dike or a seawall with sufficient accuracy. Therefore, this research paper proposes a method that can predict the suction rate of backfilling materials from a dike or a seawall. The findings show that the estimates of the suction rate using the proposed method were very similar to the measured field data. This fact indicates that the proposed method can predict the rate of suction with sufficient accuracy. Copyright © 2014 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).