The Shippagan habitat compensation project uses sand engine techniques to increase the resiliency of a barrier spit and restore important beach and dune habitat in Northern New Brunswick, Canada. As part of long-term monitoring for the project, beach morphodynamics are being measured using Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), which provide multi-temporal, hyperspatial elevation models and orthomosaic imagery of the spit. Site-scale vertical and volumetric change analyses have been conducted to monitor morphological change of the beach, determine the efficacy of the implemented sand engine in beach nourishment, and to assess storm recovery following the impacts of Hurricane Fiona in September 2022. The study area for these analyses is a 2.5 km stretch of beach which includes the targeted beach nourishment area and the deposit of reused dredged materials (DS1) which make up the sand engine. Results indicate a net movement of sediment from DS1 to the restored beach area which has seen both lateral and vertical expansion since deposition of the dredge materials further east on the beach. Data collected immediately following Hurricane Fiona show a net loss of sediment throughout the study area which is mainly attributed to the storm event. Despite this large-scale loss of sediment from the system, volumetric change the beach nourishment area remains positive from June 2022 – June 2023, indicating a rapid storm recovery of the restored beach.

One critical aspect of offshore infrastructure design is understanding the interaction between submarine pipelines and the seabed under ice cover. Local scour around submerged pipelines can compromise the structural integrity of these vital conduits, leading to potential environmental hazards and economic losses. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the numerical and physical modeling of local scour phenomena around submarine pipelines under ice cover, aiming to enhance understanding the complex interplay between ice, seawater, and seabed.

A 3D numerical model of the Gironde estuary has been built on Opentelemac code. Telemac 3D is used to solve hydrodynamics and Telemac 3D is coupled with Gaia for sediment transport and morphodynamic. The numerical model has been compared to water column data as water level, velocities, suspended sediment concentrations (SSC), salinity in the central part of the estuary. In this contribution, we propose to further explore the model behavior in the tidal Garonne River (TGR) where different terminals of the port of Bordeaux are located. The Gironde estuary features a turbidity maximum which is migrating upstream in the TGR during the low flow periods. During the summer, the combination of high SSC and high water temperature constrains the dredging activities of the port of Bordeaux due to possible hypoxia episodes. The model will be compared to in-situ measurement in the TGR and the model comparison will be extended to bed evolutions. The influence of bed load, suspension of sand, mud sliding, consolidation, flocculation and port operation will be explored. Then, the 3D hydro-sediment model will be also coupled with a water quality module (Waqtel) to simulate the water temperature and the dissolved oxygen. The model will be used to simulate seasonal variations from winter to fall hydrological conditions and analyze its ability to reproduce the migration of the turbidity maximum, the increase of water temperature and the decrease of dissolved oxygen. This work is particularly important for port operations, particularly with regard to new water injection dredging technology, the use of which is subject to regulations which take into account the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the environment, particularly during periods of hypoxia linked to summer low water. This work will notably be used in a digital twin of the river.

This contribution will present the ongoing work on the development as well as the application of morphodynamic models to predict the long-term morphological development of the tidal inlet systems in the Dutch Wadden Sea under influence of relative sea level rise.