Estimation of maintenance dredging for navigation channels

This report deals with methods of predicting maintenance dredging in those parts of navigation channels that are situated in the outer areas of estuaries and offshore. It discusses the behaviour of channels dredged across flow lines, and examines the influence of various factors on channel shape.
It deals in turn with methods of predicting inflll due to the action of currents, gravity and wave activity, and the special problems that arise when the bed is composed of a cohesive material such as mud or silt. It discusses the application of tracers to estimate inflll, and also trial dredging.
The report was prepared in response to a demand for a critical assessment of existing methods of predicting maintenance dredging in access channels, and is based on a review of available literature backed by experience gained in investigating practical problems at the Hydraulics Research Station.