Movable-bed model study of Galveston Bay entrance

Date

1975

Authors

Herrmann, F.A., Jr.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Academic Press

Abstract

In 1960, a model of the Galveston Bay entrance area was constructed at the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. At the time of the model study, there were three major problems within the jetty channel: the extremely sharp turn located at approximately the inner end of the jetty channel, large ships, especially tankers, had difficulty negotiating this turn at or near the strength of the tidal currents; the extremely deep water immediately alongside the north jetty, in the area where the navigation channel was very close to the structure and the shoaling in the inner bar and outer bar parts of the navigation channel. For the depth of -11.6m of the inner bar and -12.2m of the outer bar (including 0.6m allowable over-depth dredging), the average annual shoaling rates were 346,000 cu m and 560,000 cu m, respectively. As a part of the improvement desired, it was anticipated that the depth of the entrance channel would be increased thoughout its length by 1.2m and an increase of shoaling in both the inner and outer bars could logically be expected. The model with scale ratios of 1:500 horizontally and 1:100 vertically, reproduced about 452 sq km of prototype area, including a small part of Galveston Bay and a part of the Gulf of Mexico extending 13 km north of the north jetty, 10.5 km south of the south jetty, and offshore to about the 15 m depth contour.

Description

pgs. 93-110

Keywords

geology, navigational channels, models, modeling, shoaling, estuaries, estuarine biology, estuarine oceanography, proceedings, meeting, conference

Citation