Alongshore Sediment Transport Rate

Abstract

This paper describes a study of alongshore sediment transport rate based on three‐dimensional hydraulic model experiments performed with regular and irregular waves. Deep‐water wave conditions, wave heights through the surf zone, wave‐breaking angles, longshore current velocity distribution, and the bed‐load and suspended‐load sediment transport distributions are measured simultaneously to form a coherent data set. An expression is developed linking sediment transport rate to wave steepness, beach slope, relative grain size, and breaking angle. The expression compares well with published field data.