Rubble Mound Breakwaters

Oral

1664 - Investigating Low-Crested Breakwater Performance For The Design Of The New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor

Presenting Author(s)

• 

  Kevin Hanegan, PE

  Coastal Engineer
  Moffatt & Nichol

Additional Author #1(s)

• AP

  Adrian Pearson

Additional Author #2(s)

• CW

  Chris Williams

The New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor in New Orleans was damaged during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and recent city planning efforts have prompted the reconstruction of the inner harbor. Moffatt & Nichol led the design, including the hydrodynamic study which established the marine design criteria. The site is exposed to high surge events which can inundate the harbor’s broad, low-crested earthen breakwater and allow waves to transmit directly into the interior. Augmented with empirical equations for transmission, a Boussinesq model was used to simulate wave penetration and the spatial variability in wave parameters within the harbor.