Wave concentration by a navigation channel

Navigation channels are often dredged in harbours to cater for increasing s hip sizes. These abrupt changes in the topography affect the wave propagati on to a large extent. Because of the wave refraction by the side slopes of a channel, wave concentration at the sides of the channel occurs. This may be critical to the design of the channel. On the other hand, sea waves are random and multi-directional, and the wave propagation in coastal regions i s a non-linear process. Recent efforts have extended the range of applicati on of the classical Boussinesq equations to seater depths. The improved equ ations give a better description of wave propagation in shallow water. In t his paper, a numerical model based on the modified Boussinesq equations is used to simulate the wave propagation over a topography with a navigation c hannel. The effects of the channel on the wave propagation and the wave dis tribution in a harbour are numerically investigated. The abrupt changes in topography can dramatically change the wave distribution and cause wave con centration at some locations. These phenomena should be given special atten tion in harbour design. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.