Coastal Engineering for Veterans Drive Improvements

The Department of Public Works of the Government of the Unites States Virgin Islands has undertaken engineering design for widening of Veterans Drive along the waterfront of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. This proposed widening will include a revetment and bulkheads to protect the fill associated with the proposed widening. An alternative under consideration includes a low lying bridge along a historic section of the rock shoreline to protect it from the proposed fill. Hurricane surges, wave transformation, scour and wave loads were analyzed for various elements of the proposed infrastructure improvements. Design conditions at the site are characterized by moderate waves and storm surge due to its location at the head of a semi-enclosed embayment and a relatively narrow shelf south of St. Thomas terminating in a deep trench of the Caribbean Sea.