INVESTIGATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF ENGINE BOAT GENERATED WATER TURBULENCE EFFECTS ON FARM SHORELINE EROSION

Abstract

This work investigated and quantified engine boat generated water turbulence effects on farm shoreline erosion. Upon conduction of site identification as erosion prone area, erosion risk assessment for present and 50 years time - frame, and soil type test of the study area, site and laboratory experimentations were used to obtain values of turbulence level and shoreline erosion rate which were used in the computation of their correlation in order to acquire the level of their correspondence. In the field experimentation, turbulence level generated by 7295 engine boats was used to study its correlation with shoreline erosion rate. In controlled laboratory experiment, the interaction between waves and shorelines with regard to farm shoreline erosion were studied. Also, computations following relevant measurements and experimentation were conducted to study the effect of waves (generated from engine boats actions) on farm shoreline erosion through sediment loss, wave impact height, wave velocity, maximum shock pressure, wave energy, wave speed and wave power, for condition I (during boat passage) and condition II (during no boat passage) to quantify the effect and magnitude of these generated waves on farm shoreline erosion. Shore reclamation was also conducted at the study area to provide a solution to farm shoreline erosion prior dredging, soil improvement and cultivation to study the viability for agricultural production. It was found that the effects of engine boats generated water turbulence affected the rate of farm shoreline erosion negatively in both site and laboratory experimentations with turbulence and erosion positively correlated, and that shore reclamation proved a reliable method of re - securing erodible farm shorelines for agricultural production.