Procedure for Determining Dredging Requirements in Coastal Inlet Channels

In order to assess the technical feasibility of a long term maintenance dredging plan at Oregon Inlet, a simple procedure was devised to evaluate the capabilities of existing ocean going hopper dredges to maintain an ocean entrance channel in an inlet environment characterized by wave climate and resulting influx of littoral material as severe as any Atlantic coast location. The dredging analysis procedure described in this paper was used to evaluate dredge plant capabilities under the operational constraints imposed by depth limitations resulting from the continuous influx of sediment into the project channel, the wave climate, and dredging production capacity in terms of actual hopper capacity and cycle times for different disposal schemes. The shoaling and dredging simulation procedure is described interms of its application to the proposed navigation project at Oregon Inlet, NC.