Gerard Schlooz

Pilot project the Sand Engine; a mega-nourishment

The decision to preserve the sand volume in the coastal foundation led to a yearly need of 1.1 million cube meters of sand per year for the Delfland coast. From economical and ecological motives, the idea arose to construct the Sand Engine, a peninsula at the coast of Ter Heijde, to take care of the yearly need of sand. Currents, waves and wind will spread out the sand from the peninsula along the Delfland coast assuring the upkeep of the coastline and its foundation. 

With the construction of the Sand Engine a new situation is originated. Before the construction the coast between Hoek van Holland and Scheveningen was a straight line that was relatively stable, after the construction the coastline is curved and changes rapidly in time. It is unknown what this change will do to the hydrodynamics of the surf zone. This uncertainty is a big issue for the swimmer’s safety, which calls for a better understanding of the new situation.

Research objectives and questions

The new situation lead to this research with the following research objectives:

• What implications on hydrodynamics may be expected due to a convex curved coastline in a wind sea environment.
• A mega rip may be expected due to the curved coastline; Obtain a better understanding in the relevant processes of a mega rip in a wind sea environment.
• Relate the characteristics of the mega rip, in a wind sea dominated coast, to swimmer’s safety.

The research questions are:

1. What is a mega rip?

2. Under what conditions may we expect a mega rip at the Sand Engine?

3. What processes are relevant when modeling a mega rip at the Sand Engine, using Delft3D?

4. What are the relevant characteristics of this mega rip for swimmer’s safety?

5. What may be expected in the near future due to the curved coastline with respect to RIP currents?

An abstract of this thesis can be expected on this wiki end of August 2012.

For further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.