Probabilistic channel infill approach

The design of access channels aims to achieve a balance between the requirements for navigation and the need for both capital and maintenance dredging; these are essentially the key factors on which decisions are based, whilst considering the constraints posed by the site-specific environmental settings and legislation. Within the constraints of navigation requirements, channel and trench design can be optimized to minimize capital dredge volumes and the expected sedimentation and related costs of maintenance dredging. However, the infill of channels and trenches is highly stochastic, due to the large number of uncertainties in flow and wave forcing, sediment characteristics and the well-known limitations in sediment transport models. This paper describes an approach taking these uncertainties into account.