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Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls with bullnose

Article in Tạp chí Khoa học và Công nghệ Biển · July 2020
DOI: 10.15625/1859-3097/20/3/15064

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 Vietnam Journal of Marine Science and Technology; Vol. 20, No. 3; 2020: 333–342
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15625/1859-3097/20/3/15064
http://www.vjs.ac.vn/index.php/jmst

Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls with bullnose

Le Hai Trung*, Dang Thi Linh, Tang Xuan Tho, Nguyen Truong Duy, Tran Thanh Tung
Thuyloi University, Hanoi, Vietnam
*
E-mail: [email protected]/[email protected]

Received: 14 May 2020; Accepted: 16 July 2020

©2020 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST)

Abstract
Seawalls have been erected to protect hundreds of towns and tourism areas stretching along the coast of
Vietnam. During storm surges or high tides, wave overtopping and splash-up would often threaten the safety
of infrastructures, traffic and residents on the narrow land behind. Therefore, this study investigates these
wave-wall interactions via hydraulic small scale model tests at Thuyloi University. Remarkably, the
structure models were shaped to have different seaward faces and bullnoses. The wave overtopping
discharge and splash run-up height at seawalls with bullnose are significantly smaller than those without
bullnose. Furthermore, the magnitude of these decreasing effects is quantitatively estimated.
Keywords: Bullnose, overtopping, physical model, seawall, splash-up, wave flume.

Citation: Le Hai Trung, Dang Thi Linh, Tang Xuan Tho, Nguyen Truong Duy, Tran Thanh Tung, 2020. Wave
overtopping and splash-up at seawalls with bullnose. Vietnam Journal of Marine Science and Technology, 20(3),
333–342.

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Le Hai Trung et al.

INTRODUCTION Remarkably, the models are tested with and

Historically, seawalls have been built along without bullnose. Section 2 describes the setup
the coastlines to protect the land from erosion of the experiments including wave flume,
and flooding and sometimes provide additional cross-sections of the structure tested, wave
amenity value. Typically, structures are either conditions, measurement devices and test
massive vertical retaining walls or very steep scenarios. Section 3 presents the test results and
face ones. For example, Chinese people discusses how effectively the bullnoses prevent
constructed a steep stone seawall running along and reduce wave overtopping as well as
Hangzhou bay several centuries ago. The splashing up.
structure had served to protect people and their
property under many recorded hazards from sea METHODOLOGY
and river [1]. Holland wave flume
In severe weather conditions, big waves All experiments were carried out in the
would attack and generate significant Holland wave flume at the Integrated Hydraulic
overtopping and splashing up. Wave Laboratory at Thuyloi University. The flume
overtopping at seawall has been intensively measures 45 m long (effective), 1.0 m wide and
investigated in many works including physical 1.2 m high. The wave maker is equipped with
models [2, 3], numerical simulations [4] and an advanced automated system of active
even in situ tests and field measurements [5]. reflection compensation (ARC) and may
To reduce wave overtopping, the design generate irregular waves with height of up to
would often consist of a seaward overhang in 30 cm and a peak period of 3.0 seconds.
forms of recurve, parapet, return wall, Measurement devices were manufactured and
bullnose. Notably, Pearson et al., (2005) [6] installed by HR Wallingford.
investigated the recurve/parapet which gives The model structures and wave parameters
significant reductions of wave overtopping. are selected according to a length scale of 1/15,
Based on research, knowledge has been a scale ratio [10] of 15. A foreland made of fine
gradually accumulated thus leading to proper sand is shaped with an inclination of 1/50. The
and economical design of seawalls as seawall is positioned on the top of a steep base
published in a large number of handbooks and (cot α = 1.5). Figure 1 sketches the experiment
guidelines [7–9]. configuration and the arrangement of all
Along the coast of Vietnam, seawalls have measurement devices.
become more and more popular and reliable to Measurement devices
protect an increasing number of towns and We used capacitance-type wave gauges to
tourism hotspots, especially since 2000s. In record wave signals at sampling frequency of
fact, seawalls would be newly constructed or up to 100 Hz. Four gauges were used to
upgraded from existing protection structures. In separate reflected waves and thus determine
the latter case, concrete blocks of various incident waves at the front of the structures.
shapes are built or placed on the crest of a The distances between these gauges are
revetment/dike. By doing so, the crest is carefully selected so that singularities in the
leveled up significantly while the landscape is wave separation can be properly avoided. Two
not violently affected. However, the practice of other gauges are utilised to determine waves in
design is very much dependent on experience front of the board (deep water) and at the
with dikes and revetments, which has been long middle of the foreland, respectively (fig. 1).
applied in Vietnam. A tank was placed right behind the wall to
Therefore, the paper aims to determine the collect all water produced by overtopping wave
performance of seawall blocks on a steep and splashing up. A pumping system was set up
revetment, focusing on wave overtopping and to keep transferring the water to a bucket for
splashing up. To this end, physical experiments measuring the volume. Besides, a digital
were conducted on three different cross- camcorder is deserved to capture the splashing-
sections of seawall in a wave flume. up height with regard to a vertical ruler on side

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 Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls

of the flume. Additionally, we used another In short, three groups of parameters were
camcorder to record the overview of every measured including wave characteristics,
experiment. overtopping volumes and splash run-up height.

Figure 1. Experimental setup in the wave flume including a wave board, a foreland, a base, a
seawall, an overtopping water tank and a wave absorber (not to scale)

Cross-sections of the seawall model different seaward faces including curved (fig. 2a),
The cross-section of any structure plays a steep (fig. 2b) and straight (fig. 2c). In general,
vital role in the wave-structure interaction, the studied structural configurations would be
especially overtopping and splashing up. found similar to coastal structures of complex
Therefore, we investigated the performance of geometries as described in Zanuttigh (2016) [11].

T9 T5 T8

T2 T4 T10
(a) Curved face (b) Steep face (c) Straight face
Figure 2. Different cross-sections of seawall with and without bullnose

Each type of wall was shaped with and the dimension of the entire wall. These seawall
without bullnose, e.g. T2 is curved one with models are made of mica plastic. They are all
bullnose and T9 without bullnose. Remarkably, 150 mm high, 120 mm and 96 mm wide at toe
the bullnose is relatively large with regard to and crest, respectively.

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Le Hai Trung et al.

Test scenarios the measured results. A test name consists of

We conducted a series of experiments four parts including water depth d, wave height
under two wave conditions which have H, wave period T, and its order (the 1st test is
standard JONSWAP spectrum. In which, the denoted as ‘i’ and ‘ii’ for the 2nd one). In
wave heights were 0.15, 0.17 m while wave practice, several tests were repeated three or
periods were 1.5 s and 1.6 s, respectively four times in case of suspecting the results.
(table 1). Each wave condition was generated
in the flume filled with two depths of 0.50 m RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
and 0.55 m in order to assess the influence of Wave overtopping discharge
water level (especially low tide and high tide) We directly measured the total wave
on wave overtopping and splashing up. Every overtopping volume V [m3] and test duration t
test consists of at least 500 waves in order to [second]. As the wave flume is 1 m wide, the
reproduce the entire spectra and to generate averaged unit overtopping discharge q [m3/s
wave overtopping with stable discharges. per m] is therefore simply derived from these
two parameters:
Table 1. Wave conditions in the wave flume V
q (1)
d[m] Hm0 [m] Tp [s] t
0.50 0.15 1.5
0.50 0.17 1.6 Tables 2–4 provide all values of V, t and q
0.55 0.15 1.5 for curved seawall models (T2 and T9), steep
0.55 0.17 1.6 ones (T4 and T5), and straight ones (T10 and
T8). Due to the small amount of overtopping
For every cross-section, all tests were taking place, discharge q is expressed with a
carried out twice to check the consistency of constant of 10-3.

Table 2. Wave overtopping discharge on curved seawalls

T2 T9
Scenarios 3 -3 3 3 kbn (qT2/qT9)
V [m ] t [s] qT2 10 [m /s/m] V [m ] t [s] qT9 10-3 [m3/s/m]
d50H15T15 i 0.003 750 0.004 0.030 750 0.040 0.100
d50H15T15 ii 0.004 750 0.005 0.035 750 0.047 0.107
d50H17T16 i 0.010 800 0.013 0.045 800 0.056 0.231
d50H17T16 ii 0.011 800 0.014 0.042 800 0.053 0.267
d55H15T15 i 0.060 750 0.08 0.410 800 0.513 0.156
d55H15T15 ii 0.060 750 0.08 0.420 800 0.525 0.152
d55H17T16 i 0.105 800 0.131 0.265 750 0.353 0.371
d55H17T16 ii 0.110 800 0.138 0.260 750 0.347 0.398

Table 3. Wave overtopping discharge on steep seawalls

T4 T5
Scenarios 3 -3 3 3
kbn (qT4/qT5)
V [m ] t [s] qT4 10 [m /s/m] V [m ] t [s] qT5 10-3 [m3/s/m]
d50H15T15 i 0.062 750 0.083 0.065 750 0.087 0.958
d50H15T15 ii 0.065 750 0.087 0.070 750 0.093 0.932
d50H17T16 i 0.002 800 0.003 0.100 800 0.125 0.024
d50H17T16 ii 0.002 800 0.002 0.110 800 0.138 0.015
d55H17T16 i 0.135 800 0.169 0.495 800 0.619 0.273
d55H17T16 ii 0.125 800 0.156 0.485 800 0.606 0.257

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 Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls

Table 4. Wave overtopping discharge on straight seawalls

T10 T8
Scenarios kbn (qT10/qT8)
V [m3] t [s] qT10 10-3 [m3/s/m] V [m3] t [s] qT8 10-3 [m3/s/m]
d50H15T15 i 0.004 750 0.005 0.032 750 0.043 0.117
d50H15T15 ii 0.003 750 0.004 0.035 750 0.047 0.086
d50H17T16 i 0.009 800 0.011 0.075 800 0.094 0.117
d50H17T16 ii 0.010 800 0.013 0.072 800 0.090 0.144
d55H15T15 i 0.045 750 0.060 0.280 750 0.373 0.161
d55H15T15 ii 0.050 750 0.067 0.285 750 0.380 0.176
d55H17T16 i 0.110 750 0.147 0.330 800 0.413 0.356
d55H17T16 ii 0.105 750 0.140 0.340 800 0.425 0.329

From the measured values above, we plot despite having a bullnose or not. In general,
the dimensionless crest freeboard Rc Hm0 steep face models (T5 and T4) would produce
the highest overtopping discharge while
against dimensionless discharge q gH m3 0 in straight ones generate the lowest overtopping
fig. 3, fig. 4 and fig. 5. It is clear that the rate (T8 and T10).
higher the freeboard, the smaller the discharge

T9 no bullnose

T2 bullnose

Figure 3. Dimensionless discharge vs. cress freeboard, curved face models T2 and T9

T5 no bullnose

T4 bullnose

Figure 4. Dimensionless discharge vs. cress freeboard, steep face models T4 and T5

337
Le Hai Trung et al.

T8 no bullnose

T10 bullnose

Figure 5. Dimensionless discharge vs. cress freeboard, straight face models T10 and T8

Having no bullnose, overtopping discharges In which: qbn and qno bn are overtopping rates on
are similar between models T9 and T8, and seawall model with and without bullnose,
slightly less than on T5. It would be due to the respectively. The smaller the factor, the greater
steep face that stimulates water run-up to reach the amount of discharge which is decreased due
higher than in cases of straight and curved to the bullnose.
ones. Maximum value of q gH m3 0 is up to In tables 2–4 above, overtopping rates
without bullnoses qno bn are assigned to qT9, qT5
about 0.015 for T5 while that is 0.012 and 0.01
and qT8 while those with bullnoses qbn
for T9 and T8, respectively.
correspond to qT92, qT4 and qT10. And the
Interestingly, bullnose shows the most calculated values of kbn vary over a comparable
significant effect on steep face models when range for curved (0.1 ~ 0.398) and straight
q gH m3 0 drops from (0.008 ~ 0.014) for T5 (0.085 ~ 0.356) seawalls. Not surprisingly, the
to (0.002 ~ 0.004) for T4. In the mean while, steep face model has the most scattering kbn
overtopping rates reduce from (0.008 ~ 0.012) which fluctuates from 0.014 to 0.954. For
for T9 to (0.002 ~ 0.003) for T12 and comparison, Pearson et al., (2005) [6] paid
attention to seawalls with high freeboard and
q gH m3 0 is (0.008 ~ 0.01) and (0.001 ~ under wave breaking conditions. In their study,
0.003) on T8 and T10, respectively. And for recurve/parapet shows significant effect with
rather high freeboard, there would be hardly reduction factor larger than 0.95.
any water overtopping the curved seawall T2. Three sections all have the smallest kbn with
water depth of 0.50 m in the wave flume; and
Reduction factor due to bullnose effect curved and straight ones get the maximum
It is the bullnose that considerably reduces value of the factor with 0.55 m water depth
the overtopping discharge on all seawall (table 5). Therefore, it seems that bullnose may
models tested. Based on EurOtop 2006 [12], cause more clear effects with lower water level
Bruce et al. (2010) [13] described the mean rather than higher one. For curved and straight
overtopping rates for various configurations of seawalls, higher waves lead to greater kbn, i.e.
vertical and composite structures. Inspired by the influence of bullnose becomes less
these existing theories, a discharge reduction significant. In contrast, bullnose of steep wall is
factor is proposed to quantitatively estimate the more effective in decreasing overtopping
effect of bullnose as follows: discharge when wave gets higher.
qbn Kortenhaus et al., (2004) [14] first
kbn  (2) discussed systematically a huge volume of data
qnobn on overtopping at seawalls with recurves/wave

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 Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls

return walls/parapets. The authors did introduce recommended in order to establish the
a simple reduction factor depending on relationship between kbn and the configuration
geometrical dimensions of the parapets. Indeed, of the seawall as well as the bullnose shape in
a larger number of measurements are highly the coming steps of the present study.

Table 5. Comparison of kbn among different seaward faces

kbn Curved Steep Straight
0.398 0.356
Max 0.954 d50H15T15i
d55H17T16ii d55H17T16i
0.1 0.014 0.085
Min
d50H15T15i d50H17T16ii d50H15T15ii
Averaged 0.222 0.410 0.186

Run-up height of water splash nh

The wave-structure interaction of seawall Psp  sp
(3)
is often more intensive and spectacular than N sp
those of dikes and revetments. It is the manner
of water splashing up that may increase the With: nh the number of waves that splash
sp
danger to men, properties and vehicles behind
over a given run-up level hsp and Nsp the total
a wall. However, few works have been
conducted to quantitatively determine the number of waves splashing up over the
splash-up [15]. The present study aims to minimum level of 0.3 m in each experiment.
ascertain how bullnose affects the splash run- Using this new parameter, we calculate Psp
up height on various shapes of seawalls. with corresponding dimensionless run-up level
We counted the number of times that a water hsp H m 0 . The obtained results are then
splash exceeds a certain height hsp that is marked
on the vertical ruler attached to the flume plotted in figs. 6–8 for three pairs of seawall
(fig. 1). For a clear recognition, the minimum models (with and without bullnose).
height is set at 0.3 m from the structure base, Obviously, the chance that a wave splash
noted that all seawall models are 0.15 m high. reaches a high run-up level is less than that of
Besides, measurements give a maximum run-up
height of 1.3 m in the entire data set. a low level. On one hand, data show large
Processing the recorded data, we propose spreading for seawalls without bullnose. It
an exceedance probability of a certain run-up means there are many splashes with either low
level as follows: or high run-up heights.

Figure 6. Exceedance probability of splash run-up height on curved face model T9 (no bullnose)
and T2 (bullnose)

339
Le Hai Trung et al.

Figure 7. Exceedance probability of splash run-up height on steep face model T5 (no bullnose)
and T4 (bullnose)

Figure 8. Exceedance probability of splash run-up height on straight face model T8 (no bullnose)
and T10 (bullnose)

On the other hand, there are fewer data hsp H m 0 and Psp are promisingly expected.
points which tend to be distributed more For the sake of simplification, linear
closely in cases of those with bullnose. It regressions were performed as deriving
would be explained that bullnoses effectively
function of Psp regarding hsp H m 0 as
prevent splash of low energy but more
powerful ones. Therefore, relations between dependent variable, e.g.

hsp
Psp  0.095  1.1783 for curved seawall with bullnose T2 (4)
H m0

hsp
Psp  0.076  1.56 for steep seawall with bullnose T4 (5)
H m0

hsp
Psp  0.126  1.541 or straight seawall with bullnose T10 (6)
H m0

Interestingly, straight seawall without are encouraged to establish probability

bullnose T8 illustrates the most scattering data distribution function of wave splash run-up
while T10 with bullnose offers a regression line height per wave at seawalls with bullnose
of the highest R-squared error. Further works similar to other representative parameters

340
 Wave overtopping and splash-up at seawalls

including run-up height (Rayleigh) and vertical seawalls under oblique wave
overtopping volume (Weibull). conditions. In Coastal Structures 2003
(pp. 528–541).
CONCLUSION [4] Gotoh, H., Ikari, H., Memita, T., and
The paper investigated the wave-seawall Sakai, T., 2005. Lagrangian particle
interaction regarding overtopping and splashing method for simulation of wave
up through a series of physical model overtopping on a vertical seawall. Coastal
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