Three-dimensional numerical modeling of sediment transport for coastal engineering projects in British Columbia, Canada

Quantitative understandings of sediment transport for coastal engineering projects, such as removing and installing underwater cables, installing and operating underwater turbines and disposal of dredged marine sediment (or terrestrial overburden) are one of the key requirements in planning these projects, assessing potential environmental impact and obtaining regulatory approvals from government agencies. In support of the environmental assessment and approval, the highly-integrated, three-dimensional finite difference COastal CIRculation Model COCIRM-SED was recently adapted and optimized to predict the sediment transport processes associated with a number of coastal engineering projects in Roberts Bank, Canoe Pass and Brown Passage, British Columbia, Canada. In these applications, the circulation module was validated using historical ocean current data located in the study areas.