sediment transport measurements for studying the movement of dredged sedi- 

 ment placed seaward of the surf zone. Thus, one unique characteristic of 

 SUPERTANK was utilization of the entire length of the beach, extending from 

 near the wave generator through the surf zone to the limit of runup, and both 

 shore protection research work units and dredging-related research work units 

 became involved. 



Scope of chapter 



This chapter presents an overview of the SUPERTANK Laboratory Data 

 Collection Project. Project planning and the major test series are described to 

 give a background on the motivation for the project and strategy for the tests 

 performed. Some information is given on logistical details, because the great 

 expense associated with numerous researchers at the site and contract time in 

 the facilities required careful attention to logistics and coordination. The 

 chapter also serves as an introduction to and background for the succeeding, 

 more technical chapters on individual data collection activities. 



Project Planning 



SUPERTANK was conducted as a multi-institutional effort similar to coop- 

 erative field data collection projects first performed in the 1970s, for example, 

 the Nearshore Sediment Transport Study in the United States (Seymour and 

 Duane 1978), the Nearshore Environment Research Center Project in Japan 

 (Horikawa and Hattori 1987), and USACE-sponsored projects such as 

 DUCK85 (Mason, Birkemeier, and Howd 1987) and SUPERDUCK 

 (Birkemeier et al. 1989). Cooperative efforts that pool expertise, instrumen- 

 tation, and a wide range of research interests have led to advances unattainable 

 by a single or small group of investigators. The advantages of cooperative 

 research were readily carried over to the LWT environment of SUPERTANK. 



The broad purpose of SUPERTANK was to collect data unbiased by 

 scaling distortions to verify and refine existing predictive technology and pro- 

 vide data and insights on detailed physical processes for development of the 

 next generation of coastal processes numerical and physical models. Thus, 

 SUPERTANK provided data for present engineering research needs as well as 

 for anticipated future research directions. The specific objectives of 

 SUPERTANK were to: 



a. Collect data to verify and improve existing macro-scale beach profile 

 change numerical simulation models (models that describe wave- 

 averaged phenomena and beach change without reference to features 

 such as bars and berms). 



b. Collect data to develop advanced hydrodynamic, cross-shore sand 

 transport, and meso-scale beach profile change numerical simulation 



Chapter 1 Introduction to SUPERTANK 



