LONGSHORE SEDIMENT TRANSPORT DATA: A REVIEW

Siltation rates anticipated at harbor entrances, in navigation channels and at inlet structures as well as possible adverse effects caused by these and other coastal engineering constructions are often assessed based on considerations of longshore sediment transport rates. The ability to predict the longshore sediment transport rate is consequently of considerable importance in many coastal engineering problems. The engineering need for an ability to predict longshore sediment transport rates is evidenced by the fact that the development of empirical relationships preceeded, by decades, any attempts at rigorous analyses of the mechanics of sediment transport processes in the surf zone. A predictive relationship for longshore sediment transport rates, which enjoys considerable popularity in the United States, is the empirical relationship suggested by the U.S. Army (1973), Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) in their Shore Protection Manual (SPM-73).