It is widely recognised that coastal-defence structures generally affect the structure of the assemblages they support, yet their impact on adjacent systems has been largely ignored. Breakwaters modify the nearby physical environment (e.g. wave action) suggesting a local impact on biological parameters. In the present study, an ACI (After-Control-Impact) design was used to test the general hypo...

Most coastal structures have been built in surf zones to protect coastal areas. In general, the transformation of waves in the surf zone is quite complicated and numerous hazards to coastal communities may be associated with such phenomena. Therefore, the behavior of waves in the surf zone should be carefully analyzed and predicted. Furthermore, an accurate analysis of deformed waves around coa...

Until recently, physical models were the only way to investigate into the details of breakwaters behavior under wave attack. From the numerical point of view, the complexity of the fluid dynamic processes involved has so far hindered the direct application of Navier-Stokes equations within the armour blocks, due to the complex geometry and the presence of strongly non stationary flows, free bou...

A new and symmetrical single layer armour unit, the crablock, has been designed in the UAE. One breakwater was reconstructed with crablock, but very limited testing had been performed. Just to become more acquainted with this new unit, precompetitive research at a university has been performed, which is the subject of this paper. Being a new armour unit, the placement was investigated first. Th...