Coastal and Inlet Processes Numerical Modeling System for Oregon Inlet, North Carolina

Continued).system of numerical models called Coastal and Inlet Processes (CIP) Numerical Modeling System was developed.It included models for wave propagation, waveinduced currents and setup, sediment transport within and beyond the surf zone, and profile response (onshore-offshore transport).Results from a separate study on numerical simulation of tides and storm surge for Oregon Inlet were utilized in the present investigation.As a test for an extreme event, the Ash Wednesday storm of March 1962 was simulated with the profile response model.There was good agreement between the calculated erosion amounts of the shore-normal profiles for Bodie and Pea Islands (on either s i de of Oregon Inlet) and values measured in the field.As an alternative to the stabilization of the entrance channel by construction of two jetties, a nonstructural solution proposed by the Department of the Interior was evaluated using the profile response model.The solution involved disposal of the dredged material from the entrance channel in the nearshore region with the idea that the material would be dispersed shoreward by wave action at a rate sufficient to prevent dredging-induced beach erosion.The results of the model indicated that on the average only 25 percent of the disposed material migrated toward the shore in a year.This migration was insufficient to prevent dredging-induced beach erosion.In order to perform an ocean bar channel dredging analysis, the US Army Engineer District, Wilmington (SAW), needed to know the period of time that dredges of the CURRITUCK and ATCHAFALAYA/MERMENTAU classes could operate in the entrance channel under the influence of waves.To study this problem, the wave propagation model was run allowing for wave-current interactions.Using the model results, SAW determined the limiting wave heights for dredging operations to be deepwater significant heights of 3.0 and 4.0 ft, respectively, for the two classes of dredges.The CIP system was used to study the erosion and accretion in the entrance channel as well as the lateral movement of the channel in the presence of the south jetty alone, simulating a construction sequence in which the south jetty was built before the north jetty.To accomplish this the longshore sediment transport model simulated an average year's wave climate and tide, using the results of the wave, wave-induced current, and tide models.The results of the simulation showed that during the year a total of 1,055,990 cu yd of material was trapped in the entrance channel, whereas a total of 660,000 cu yd of material was eroded between the southern boundary of the channel and the south jetty.It was determined that the entrance channel could move on the average about 150 ft per year toward the south jetty.