A Perspective on Process Related Research Needs for Sandy Inlets

^H MEHTA, ASHISH J., 1996. A Perspective on Process Related Research Needs for Sandy Inlets. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 23, 3-21. Fort Lauderdale (Florida). ISSN 0749-0208. Physical processes at tidal inlets that require an understanding beyond the state-of-the-art for improving the technology to maintain navigable channels are prioritized within a framework determined by the need to minimize impacts to the adjacent shores and the interior environment. In this regard, sandy inlets relevant to the majority of federal navigation projects are given special consideration. Since historic, good quality data on the physical processes and their interactions with structures are available for several sandy inlets, documentation and analysis of these data are strongly recommended as a precursor to plans for collection of additional field data. In addition, experiments of opportunity can be carried out at inlets that collectively encompass wide ranging characteristics of relevant physical processes. Beyond these case studies, dedicated field investigations, laboratory studies and mathematical modeling will be essential for understanding and simulating flow and sediment transport in the complex, episodically driven environ ment seaward of the inlet channel, and the role of structures in modulating these processes. In many cases, numerical modeling is evidently a powerful tool for simulating and predicting inlet hydrodynamics, sediment transport, bottom evolution and the effects of structures. However, the need to carry out design and impact studies using meager data bases, and time and cost constraints, has led to the widespread and successful use of analytic approaches, despite their evident limitations. Such approaches are most useful in providing a basic understanding of the physical processes and interactions, and will continue to be used in inlet engineering practice. ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Beach erosion, coastal structures, dredging ebb deltas, estuarine trans port, littoral drift, mathematical modeling, navigation channels, physical models, sand bypassing.