ABSTRACT
Coastal engineering encompasses a variety of problems of practical importance, e.g. provision of harbours and their protection against sedimentation, provision for discharge of effluents into the sea, design and construction of works to protect coastal areas from flooding, defence against erosion, etc. A coastal structure should not only satisfy the functions it is intended for but also structurally withstand the hostile environment. Most coastal problems are difficult to tackle owing to the complexity of the processes involved. A solution to one problem may very well cause others, and so particular attention should be given to the interaction between the various elements that determine the coastal régime. Over the years coastal processes have been better understood and designs have been rationalized with the aid of laboratory studies, theoretical methods and field observations. For extensive treatment of the subject of coastal engineering the reader is referred to Ippen (1966), Muir Wood and Fleming (1969), Silvester (1974), Horikawa (1978), Fredsoe and Deigaard (1992), Herbich (2000), Kamphuis (2000) and Reeve et al. (2004).
