Time-Critical Port Terminal Shore Protection Design: Supporting the Port of Gulfport Restoration Program

The Port is located along the southern border of the City of Gulfport and Harrison County, Mississippi. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged the City of Gulfport and the Port infrastructure. The Port subsequently initiated the Restoration Program to identify improvements to address damages from Hurricane Katrina, rebuild the Port to restore local jobs and support economic redevelopment, and revitalize the Port to assure operational viability. Hydrodynamic and wave modeling were conducted using the ADCIRC/STWAVE suite of models to develop coastal design parameters for the Port. Several hurricanes that had impacted the area were evaluated to identify the ranges of storm surge and wave conditions on the Port restoration. The results from the modeling performed under this scope were compared with the USACE's ongoing modeling efforts as part of the Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program (MsCIP). The model predictions were used to design the coastal shoreline protection for the Port Restoration Program.