NOURISHMENT OF THE SLOPE OF A TIDAL CHANNEL. FROM EXPERIMENT TO PRACTICE

摘要

This paper describes an experiment to stop the migration of the tidal channel “Oostgat” in the coastal zone of the Westerschelde, The Netherlands, by nourishing the landward slope of the channel. The goals of the experiment were to determine whether nourishing the steep slope of a channel is technically possible and to investigate morphological developments and sediment transport. In the experiment glauconitic sand was used as a tracer material. Surveys were conducted during one year, using multi beam soundings and the MEDUSA mapping system. Results show that nourishment of a steep slope (1:7) is possible. Sediment transport could be clearly observed and after one year a large percentage of nourished material was still present. Questions remain on the influence of the steepness of the slope and on the scale of the experiment. A full scale nourishments has been planned on the slope of the Oostgat, which will be closely monitored.