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History, Design and Construction of Submerged Offshore Structures for ...
Fri, Sep 04, 2009 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
... Beach Protection and Recreational AmenitySpeaker: Jose C. Borrero Ph.D.
Coastal Engineer, ASR Limited, Raglan, New Zealand;
Adjunct Assistant Professor, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringJose C. Borrero Ph.D.1,21-Coastal Scientist/Engineer, ASR Limited, Raglan, New Zealand 2-Adjunct Assistant Professor, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringAbstract:A successful, long-term coastal protection solution seeks to directly address and work with the natural physical processes responsible for the erosion problems, not just the effects of erosion. Time and again it has been shown that 'hard engineering' efforts such as seawalls, jetties/groynes and revetments are forms of 'land protection' not beach protection that can ultimately lead to increased erosion and a significant reduction in the recreational and economic value of a beach.In recent years, alternative approaches to coastal protection have proposed the use of submerged, offshore structures to dissipate and redirect wave energy in an effort to minimize beach erosion, increase the time interval between beach nourishments, reduce negative visual impacts, enhance local ecology and provide a recreational amenity in
the form of improved surfing waves or snorkeling/diving attractions.
Another class of similar structures has also been proposed for purely recreational benefits i.e. "artificial surfing reefs" or "diving reefs" incorporated in to marine parks.This presentation will discuss the conceptualization and history of these efforts including the Narrowneck Reef located at the Gold Coast, Australia, Pratte's Reef in El Segundo California, The Mount Reef in New Zealand and the recently constructed Boscombe Reef in Boscombe, England.The presentation will also highlight the successes, failures and continuing challenges for these types of projects in terms of design, costing, construction methodology and ultimate results. The costs and sizes of such projects completed to date will also be compared to other large-scale 'traditional' coastal protection or modification works so that the projects can be seen in the proper context when direct comparisons are made.Dr. Borrero earned his Ph.D. in civil (coastal) engineering from the University of Southern California in 2002. Since 2006 he has worked with ASR Ltd., a consulting firm based in Raglan New Zealand, specializing in hydrodynamic modelling of aquatic systems, the design and implementation of innovative shore protection schemes and the design and construction of artificial surfing reefs.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209/ ON WEBEX
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes
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Ocean Modeling, Prediction and Energy Harvesting
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Dr. Yi Chao, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of TechnologyAbstractOcean circulation and variability involve multi-scales in both space and time. To correctly model the ocean therefore requires a multi-scale (or nested) modeling approach so that both the local fine-scale features and the global large-scale patterns are simultaneously resolved. This talk will describe a hierarchy of nested models resolving both the Pacific Ocean climate variability with a relatively coarse resolution (on the order of 10-km) and several coastal regions off the U.S. west coast with a spatial resolution as fine as 1-km. Advanced data assimilation algorithms have been developed to integrate the available observations from different sensors and platforms in a statistical optimal but dynamically consistent manner. Results from several field experiments will be described to test and validate the developed ocean prediction system. Preliminary results to integrate the physics/dynamics with biogeochemistry, marine ecosystem and fish will be described. Possibilities to extend this ocean forecast system to the climate time scale (e.g., El Nino) will be discussed.
The ocean prediction skill is limited by how well ocean can be measured on the routine basis. While ships are expensive to operate, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have to be frequently recovered for battery change/recharging. Prototyping a fundamentally new platform that can be deployed underwater over a long period of time is described. The idea is to extract the local renewable thermal energy in the ocean to power both the vehicle including navigation/communication and scientific sensors. A Phase Change Material (PCM) has been identified. It can be melted in warm waters at sea level and frozen in cold waters at deeper ocean depths. This melting/frozen process will generate a significant volume change and therefore a high-pressure fluid that can drive a hydraulic motor for power generation. The potential for this robotic vehicle in monitoring long-term ocean and climate change will be presented. Commercial applications to harvest ocean energy will also be discussed.Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - rielian 209/ on WEBEX
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Evangeline Reyes