Natural Sand Bypassing and Response of Ebb Shoal to Jetty Rehabilitation, Ocean City Inlet, Maryland, USA
Abstract
Ocean City Inlet, Maryland, is a dual-jetty inlet with a well-documented ebb shoal complex. During 2002, the south jetty was raised and sand tightened, and surveys in 2004 and 2005 show seaward radial migration of the outer ridge of the ebb shoal in response to the jetty rehabilitation. Natural sand bypassing occurs by transport from north to south. The ebb shoal contains a sand tongue on its northern extent that is maintained primarily by the ebb jet as it sweeps from south to north. Thus, transport that maintains the sand tongue is in the opposite direction from the natural bypassing, and growth of the sand tongue on its northwestern tip impinges on the navigation channel. Numerical modeling of tide and wave-driven circulation and sediment transport reproduces the morphologic processes that occur at Ocean City Inlet, and early modeling identified the sand tongue as a potential beach fill borrow site for mechanical bypassing to Assateague Island, as removal of sand there would not directly interrupt the natural bypassing pathway, and the material is not a source for Ocean City beaches to the north.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA518466
Entities
People
- Adele M. Buttolph
- Gregory P. Bass
- Nicholas C. Kraus
- William G. Grosskopf