Hydrodynamic studies on vertical seawall defenced by low-crested breakwater

This paper presents results obtained from a series of experiments conducted in wave flume to assess the influence of the offshore low-crested breakwater as a defence structure in reducing the wave forces on vertical seawall. The main aim of the tests was to know the effect of crest elevation of the offshore low-crested breakwater as a rehabilitation structure for the existing damaged shore protection structures. In this study five relative breakwater heights are used and associated flow evolution was analyzed. With the sections proposed in this study, it is possible to achieve considerable reduction of wave force on the seawall. Modification factor is proposed to estimate the shoreward force on the seawall defenced by low-crested breakwater. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.