COASTAL ENGINEERING STUDIES IN SUPPORT OF VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA 

 BEACH EROSION CONTROL AND HURRICANE PROTECTION PROJECT 



Report 1 



Physical Model Tests of Irregular Wave Overtopping 

 and Pressure Measurements 



PART I: INTRODUCTION 



Study Background 



1. This report is the first of a series of three reports on coastal 

 engineering studies conducted by the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment 

 Station's (CEWES's) Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) to assist the 

 US Army Engineer District, Norfolk (CENAO) , in the Advanced Engineering and 

 Design of the Virginia Beach, Virginia, Beach Erosion Control and Hurricane 

 Protection Project. The other two reports concern overtopping hydrograph de- 

 sign and beach and dune design. The coastal studies were divided into two 

 major sections: seawall design (i.e., the physical model overtopping and 

 wave-induced pressure measurements and analysis of overtopping for design 

 events) and beach and dune design evaluation (i.e., numerical simulation of 

 profile response to short-term design events and design of beach fill for 

 long-term stability and maintenance) . Figure 1 presents a flowchart of the 

 coastal engineering studies, 



2. Selection of design waves, storm surge hydrographs, and runup- 

 overtopping rates was crucial to development of the most hydraulically effi- 

 cient seawall geometry and definition of short-term beach stability. Coastal 

 engineering studies consisted of selecting design storms from the historical 

 record, simulating the wave field for each of these storms, establishing de- 

 sign surge hydrographs, developing a two-dimensional (2-D) hydrographic model 

 to measure overtopping rates and test wave-induced pressure loadings, comput- 

 ing an overtopping hydrograph adjusted for all prototype parameters, numeri- 

 cally simulating beach and dune response to design events, developing a design 

 and construction beach profile for long-term adjustment, and establishing a 

 beach maintenance plan. 



