CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
6
At the insistence of John Freeman, a notable American hydraulic engineer, who was impressed with the work of German hydraulic laboratories in
the early twenties, a Congressional bill was passed authorizing construction
of a hydraulic laboratory in United States. This measure, combined with
the magnitude and difficulty of the flood-control problems caused by the
1927 flood on the Mississippi River, led to the founding of the Waterways
Experiment Station at Vicksburg in 1929 (Hudson, et al. 1979).
In 1932, the Beach Erosion Board (later abolished and reborn as the
Coastal Engineering Research Center in 1963) constructed some of the first
facilities in the United States used to study waves and wave effects.
The end of the Second World War saw establishment of numerous national hydraulic laboratories that have become known for their research
and development work in coastal engineering. Among the more prominent are the Hydraulics Laboratory of the National Research Council of
Canada (established 1945); Port and Harbor Research Institute, Ministry
of Transportation, Japan (established 1946 as the Harbour Laboratory);
Laboratoire National D’Hydraulique, France (established 1946); Hydraulics
Research Station1, Wallingford, England (established 1947); and Danish
Hydraulic Institute of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (established 1964).
From the mid-1940’s until the present, hydraulic scale models have
played an increasing role in the design of hydraulic structures and coastal
works worldwide, and progress in hydraulic scale-model technology has
evolved to the extent that physical models are employed as design tools
in almost all major coastal engineering projects.
1.3 Advantages of Physical Models
Physical models constructed and operated at reduced scale offer an alternative for examining coastal phenomena that are presently beyond our analytical skills. Dalrymple (1985) pointed out two distinct advantages gained
by using physical models to replicate nearshore processes:
a. The physical model integrates the appropriate equations governing the processes without simplifying assumptions that
have to be made for analytical or numerical models.
b. T he small size of the model permits easier data collection
throughout the regime at a reduced cost, whereas field
data collection is much more expensive and difficult, and
simultaneous field measurements are hard to achieve.
'Privatized by the British government and renamed Hydraulic Research, Limited in
6
At the insistence of John Freeman, a notable American hydraulic engineer, who was impressed with the work of German hydraulic laboratories in
the early twenties, a Congressional bill was passed authorizing construction
of a hydraulic laboratory in United States. This measure, combined with
the magnitude and difficulty of the flood-control problems caused by the
1927 flood on the Mississippi River, led to the founding of the Waterways
Experiment Station at Vicksburg in 1929 (Hudson, et al. 1979).
In 1932, the Beach Erosion Board (later abolished and reborn as the
Coastal Engineering Research Center in 1963) constructed some of the first
facilities in the United States used to study waves and wave effects.
The end of the Second World War saw establishment of numerous national hydraulic laboratories that have become known for their research
and development work in coastal engineering. Among the more prominent are the Hydraulics Laboratory of the National Research Council of
Canada (established 1945); Port and Harbor Research Institute, Ministry
of Transportation, Japan (established 1946 as the Harbour Laboratory);
Laboratoire National D’Hydraulique, France (established 1946); Hydraulics
Research Station1, Wallingford, England (established 1947); and Danish
Hydraulic Institute of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (established 1964).
From the mid-1940’s until the present, hydraulic scale models have
played an increasing role in the design of hydraulic structures and coastal
works worldwide, and progress in hydraulic scale-model technology has
evolved to the extent that physical models are employed as design tools
in almost all major coastal engineering projects.
1.3 Advantages of Physical Models
Physical models constructed and operated at reduced scale offer an alternative for examining coastal phenomena that are presently beyond our analytical skills. Dalrymple (1985) pointed out two distinct advantages gained
by using physical models to replicate nearshore processes:
a. The physical model integrates the appropriate equations governing the processes without simplifying assumptions that
have to be made for analytical or numerical models.
b. T he small size of the model permits easier data collection
throughout the regime at a reduced cost, whereas field
data collection is much more expensive and difficult, and
simultaneous field measurements are hard to achieve.
'Privatized by the British government and renamed Hydraulic Research, Limited in