Maritime structures wave overtopping studies. The portuguese experience

Abstract

A considerable number of studies of wave overtopping at maritime structures are carried out in Portugal almost on a daily basis, mainly by consultants or within the scope of research contracts, both national and European. They cover overtopping evaluation for design of new structures, for assessment of the safety of existing defences, for risk assessment and for warning systems. This paper provides an overview of the Portuguese experience in undertaking these studies, including perspectives from consultants and researchers. It presents the methodologies and tools applied for overtopping evaluation, including empirical formulations, neural network analysis and both numerical and physical modelling. Their application is illustrated by different case studies and existing drawbacks are pointed out. It also mentions the overtopping field campaigns that will be carried out for the first time in Portugal during 2012, at Albufeira harbour, in the Algarve. Finally, it explains the main research topics and developments to be performed in the near future on wave overtopping, in Portugal.