Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
8-2013
Abstract
This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) documents the initial morphologic evolution of the Perdido Key, FL, swash-zone berm based on beach-nearshore profile, sediment samples, and nearshore wave data collected during the first six months after berm construction. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mobile District, dredged the navigation channel at Pensacola Pass, FL, from November 2011 to January 2012 and placed the 520,000 cubic yards (yd3) of dredged sand as a swash-zone berm nearshore of Perdido Key, FL. Beach quality sands are a valuable resource within the coastal zone in maintaining regional sediment balance. Compared to a typical beach fill (or direct beach placement), nearshore berm placement (in this case a swash-zone berm) has advantages of being less costly with more lenient regulatory restrictions on sediment type and monitoring requirements (Hands and Allison 1991; McLellan and Kraus 1991). The Perdido Key berm was designed to be an active berm that would quickly mobilize sediments in the energetic swash zone. The goal was to beneficially use maintenance dredged material to nourish the littoral environment adjacent to Pensacola Pass, and to have an immediate impact on the narrow subaerial beach. This CHETN documents the initial morphological evolution of the Perdido Key swash-zone berm placement based on analysis of beach-nearshore profiles, sediment samples, and nearshore wave data. The eastern portion of Perdido Key, including the present study area, was nourished in 1985 and 1989 (Dean et al. 1995). The 1985 beach nourishment was constructed to a berm height of +10.3 ft NAVD88, whereas the 1989 beach nourishment had a constructed berm height of +4.3 ft NAVD88 (Dean et al. 1995; Browder and Dean 2000). The 1989 nourishment also included a nearshore berm placed at roughly -22 ft NAVD88 with a crest height of roughly 5.7 ft. The 2012 Perdido Key artificial berm was placed west of Pensacola Pass (Figure 1).
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Initial Morphologic Evolution of Perdido Key Berm Nourishment, Florida, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, ERDC/CHL CHETN-IV-89, 11 p.
Scholar Commons Citation
Wang, Ping; Brutsche, Katherine E.; Beck, Tanya M.; Rosati, Julie D.; and Lillycrop, Linda S., "Initial Morphologic Evolution of Perdido Key Berm Nourishment, Florida" (2013). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1197.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1197
