Longshore Transport of Suspended Sediment

In excess of 800 suspended sediment samples were collected from stations along the City Pier, Ventnor, New Jersey and Jennettes Pier, Nags Head, North Carolina using a tractor-mounted pump sampler. Most samples were collected within the surf zone at the Ventnor site. At the Nags Head site, sample collections included the surf zone, but generally extended over a wider range of the nearshore zone. Average sampling time was 3 minutes. Nozzle elevation varied from 3 inches above the bottom up to a maximum about mid-depth, generally not greater than 2.5 feet above bottom. Maximum concentrations at Ventnor ranged up to 2.6 ppt by weight and at Nags Head were about 4.0 ppt. Median size at Ventnor ranged from 0.12 to 0.15 mm and averaged about 0.20 mm in depths of 4 feet and less at Nags Head. Results are summarized in a series of scatter plots which relate suspended sediment concentration to nozzle height, wave height, water depth and sampling distance from an observed wave-breaker-line. Results are compared to CERC laboratory data, to two excerpted concentrations from unidirectional flow tests and to the CERC TR-4 design curve of longshore wave energy versus longshore transport.