Harbors, Design and Engineering of

Designing and Engineering Harbors

Modern methods of harbor design usually begin with engineering drawings and a development program after evaluation of site conditions and coastal features like winds, waves, and storm protection. Part of the development plan includes a project vision, objectives, market conditions, and often marinas, boat ramps, and waterfront parks as well as marine structural inspection, design, and rehabilitation. Dredging and disposal plans and ecological restoration and habitat creation are also part of the engineering plan. When a plan is formulated and a contractor hired, the issues of shoreline stabilization, dredging, and coastal works design are addressed and federal, state, and local regulatory requirements are implemented.

Shoreline Stabilization

Federal, state, and local agencies work continuously to stabilize shorelines and harbors eroded by wind and waves and human alteration. For example, working within the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses techniques built on a foundation sand fill. Combing these methods with low rock sills to keep harbors operational, they avoid harder structures like bulkheads, rip rap, or groins to create living shorelines.

Dredging and the Environmental Protection Agency

Sand and silt washing downstream gradually fill channels and harbors in a process called sedimentation, which is a problem from small harbors to large harbor complexes like New York–New Jersey and Boston harbors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors dredging of harbors to remove and reduce the exposure of marine animals and humans to toxic sediments, a process called environmental dredging. Most dredging is done to maintain or deepen navigation channels; there is a growing need for wider and deeper channels in harbors because of the increasing size and use of container ships.

...