Papers by Alberto Lamberti
The guidelines cover shore-parallel low crested and submerged structures such as regularly overto... more The guidelines cover shore-parallel low crested and submerged structures such as regularly overtopped emergent and submerged detached breakwaters. While LCSs share engineering and ecological features with artificial reefs, these are considered as a separate issue as they are very wide crested, deeply submerged, and deployed mainly to enhance fisheries.The structures reduce the amount of wave energy reaching the shore behind them and as a consequence, influence sediment transport and impose shoreline changes. LCSs can be constructed as a single structure or in series. A single structure is used to protect a localized area, whereas a multiple segmented system is designed to protect an extended length of a shoreline. The structures are most commonly constructed of stone material. Concrete blocks are used for the armour layers if suitable rock material of sufficient size is not readily available. Revetments or seawalls are often constructed along the coast as a part of LCS-schemes in order to strengthen very exposed coastlines.
Recentemente si \ue8 concluso il progetto di ricerca finanziato dalla Unione Europea nell\u2019am... more Recentemente si \ue8 concluso il progetto di ricerca finanziato dalla Unione Europea nell\u2019ambito del V programma Quadro \u2018CoastView\u2019, che ha coinvolto 12 istituzioni di diverse nazioni tra le quali in Italia l'Universit\ue0 di Bologna, l'Universit\ue0 di Ferrara e la Regione Emilia Romagna. Nella prima parte dell\u2019articolo viene brevemente descritto il progetto e le caratteristiche delle stazioni di monitoraggio video, ampiamente documentate in bibliografia; nelle successive sezioni saranno descritte alcune applicazioni del progetto, in particolare si \ue8 ritenuto interessante e significativo, in questa sede, descrivere i risultati delle applicazioni per la nautica e per la difesa costiera. In particolare per le applicazioni alla difesa costiera sono descritti i casi di Lido di Dante in Italia e di Egmond nei Paesi Bassi. Le applicazioni alla nautica riguardano i casi di El Puntal, Spagna e di Teignmouth, Gran Bretagna
La sistematica applicazione preventiva di modelli di propagazione lungo le aste fluviali cittadin... more La sistematica applicazione preventiva di modelli di propagazione lungo le aste fluviali cittadine, unitamente alla calibrazione di semplici modelli di previsione in tempo reale sono indispensabili strumenti per la corretta attività pianificatori a e per le attività di protezione civile. In questo articolo, ad esempio, si presenta lo studio dell’evento di piena verificatosi nel giugno 1994 e dei danni conseguenti sull’asta del torrente Savena delimitata a monte dal Ponte Nuovo in località Rastignano (Pianoro) ed a valle dalla confluenza nel torrente Idice. Lo studio è stato essenzialmente mirato alla ricostruzione dell’evento di piena ed alla calibrazione di un modello matematico di moto vario, all’individuazione delle zone a rischio di esondazione in corrispondenza di valori di portata associati a differenti tempi di ritorno, alla verifica della accuratezza di un semplice modello di previsione in tempo reale basato sulla osservazione dei soli livelli idrometrici
An unsteady RANS-based CFD model (STAR-CCM+) is used to optimize the non-reflective chamber and d... more An unsteady RANS-based CFD model (STAR-CCM+) is used to optimize the non-reflective chamber and define design loads under the action of extreme focused wave groups for the new sheet-pile quaywall of Vlora's harbour. The use of different extreme focused wave groups generated according three different spectral wave conditions, i.e. northern exercise condition, southern exercise and extreme conditions, is presented. The proposed method, through spectral analysis of the incident and reflected wave signal, allows the estimation of the reflection coefficients, hence the identification of the best site specific solution. The recorded pressure time series on the structure surfaces, after a validation by comparison with empirical formulas, allows the definition of the design loads
Elsevier eBooks, 2007
Case Study 11.1 Comment from a Middle School Student David Spitzler, a 12-year old student at Bos... more Case Study 11.1 Comment from a Middle School Student David Spitzler, a 12-year old student at Boston Latin School, faced disciplinary action for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. When interviewed by the press, David said he considered the Pledge "a hypocritical exhortation to patriotism" because there is no "liberty and justice for all." This Middle School Student also said: "(The Pledge attempts to unite) oppressed and oppressors. You have people who drive nice cars, live in nice houses, and don't have to worry about money. Then you have the poor people, living in bad neighborhoods and going to bad schools. Somehow the Pledge makes it seem that everybody's equal when that's not happening. There is no justice for everybody."
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, Jan 30, 2017
Sea states and environmental conditions are basic data for the design of marine structures. Hindc... more Sea states and environmental conditions are basic data for the design of marine structures. Hindcasted wave data have been applied here with the aim of identifying the proper design conditions for an innovative quay wall concept. In this paper, the results of a computational fluid dynamics model are used to optimise the new absorbing quay wall of Vlorë Harbour (Republic of Albania) and define the design loads under extreme wave conditions. The design wave states at the harbour entrance have been estimated analysing 31 years of hindcasted wave data simulated through the application of WaveWatch III. Due to the particular geography and topography of the Bay of Vlorë, wave conditions generated from the northwest are transferred to the harbour entrance with the application of a 2-D spectral wave module, whereas southern wave states, which are also the most critical for the port structures, are defined by means of a wave generation model, according to the available wind measurements. Finally, the identified extreme events have been used, through the NewWave approach, as boundary conditions for the numerical analysis of the interaction between the quay wall and the extreme events. The results show that the proposed method, based on numerical modelling at different scales from macro to meso and to micro, allows for the identification of the best site-specific solutions, also for a location devoid of any wave measurement. In this light, the objectives of the paper are twofold. First, they show the application of sea condition estimations through the use of wave hindcasted data in order to properly define the design wave conditions for a new harbour structure. Second, they present a new approach for investigating an innovative absorbing quay wall based on CFD modelling and the NewWave theory.
Sea level rise due to global warming, subsidence processes, increased storminess, and tidal surge... more Sea level rise due to global warming, subsidence processes, increased storminess, and tidal surges expose several European coastlines to serious erosion and flooding events. In highly developed coastal areas, erosion and flooding cause conspicuous socio-economic losses in terms of damages to houses, infrastructures such as roads and railways, industries, and farmlands. The coastal protection provided by LCSs has positive effects on coastal economies. The chapter advocates, that coastal defences including LCSs must be constructed with due regard to sustainable management of habitats, ecosystems, and species and their living natural resource (including goods and services), observing European Directives on habitats, birds, and water, and by complying to any national or regional environmental legislation. LCSs have significant influence on the recreational conditions for beach users. Some influences are regarded as positive, while others are considered as negative. The influence is either direct due to the physical presence of the structure in a near shore zone or indirect due to the consequent effects on the local hydro-morphodynamics. The presence of organisms that grow on the structures or colonize the sheltered habitats behind LCSs can be a nuisance for beach tourism, leading to expensive beach cleaning or removal of the organisms. LCSs can be used to protect areas of cultural heritage value such as archaeological and historic sites, monuments, churches and buildings threatened by coastal erosion. Non visible LCSs are probably preferable; if necessary, combined with a revetment or a seawall to strengthen a shore.
International Journal of Marine Energy, Sep 1, 2017
This paper presents a numerical model that simulates the behaviour of an offshore point absorber ... more This paper presents a numerical model that simulates the behaviour of an offshore point absorber wave energy converter (WEC). The model receives 1 st order irregular waves as input and delivers instantaneous displacements, velocities and power as output. The model outputs are strongly non-linear due to the nature of some parts of the device, such as the power take off system (PTO), the mooring wires and the drag forces exerted on the wet bodies.
Coastal Engineering, Sep 1, 2017
Sea level records, collected in digital form with high sampling rate by recently upgraded tide ga... more Sea level records, collected in digital form with high sampling rate by recently upgraded tide gauges located along the Mediterranean coasts, are subjected to a posteriori investigation to examine and characterize occurrence of sea level oscillations in the tsunami period range, induced by both underwater or coastal earthquakes and by meteorological events. After performing a rigorous quality control procedure on the raw sea level time series, a wavelet based analysis is applied to 2 h high-pass filtered data to identify oscillations generated by earthquakes, and a few events are modeled aiming to verify travel time and expected spectral shape. Seismic tsunami oscillations that are not reported in published catalogues are identified in the sea level records of the period 2010-2014 just after three different earthquake events. A method is proposed to detect occurrence of tsunami-like oscillations of meteorological origin from the available tidal records based on the distribution of the detided level process over spectral bandwidth parameter and mean period. The developed methodology is also the first presented which allows to distinguish sea wave induced harbor seiches from fluctuations of meteorological origin associated with passage of atmospheric disturbances (meteotsunamis) in sea level time series. The results of the analyses show that, during the considered period, in the Mediterranean Sea tsunamis of seismic origin are rare and weak; meteotsunamis on the contrary are relatively frequent and in critical areas may reach intensities exceeding astronomical tide. The availability of the recently acquired high frequency records and the presented approach allow to extend the list of recorded tsunami events of both seismic and meteorological origin. The identified event sets may be used for improved hazard analyses and risk assessments along the Mediterranean coasts.
Journal of waterway, port, coastal, and ocean engineering, 2006
The development of deep plasma depletions in the equatorial ionosphere at time of magnetic storms... more The development of deep plasma depletions in the equatorial ionosphere at time of magnetic storms is of particular interest in space and plasma physics as well as in the field of radio communications. Detailed plasma, dc electric field, and wave observations were performed by the Detection of ElectroMagnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions microsatellite through several depletions where the large Debye length may lead to significant disturbances on the measurements of dc electric fields by the double probe instrument. After an overview of the data acquired in a well-developed plasma cavity, we present a numerical simulation study that was undertaken to model the operation of the electric field probes in their actual environment. The initial results indicate that, in low-density ionospheric plasma and depending on the potential difference between the probes and the boom, non negligible errors may arise from the influence of the boom on the probe current collection.
Elsevier eBooks, 2007
The bathymetry of the sea bed, the beach, and the adjacent coastal land formations must be known,... more The bathymetry of the sea bed, the beach, and the adjacent coastal land formations must be known, not only at the location of the LCS scheme but also for the neighboring stretches along the coast because of potential distant effects of the structures. On charts for navigation purposes, a seabed level is most often defined relative to the chart datum, commonly taken as the lowest astronomic spring tide level. The coastal profile is very important for the assessment of the wave regime and its impact on morphology and the structure itself. Morphological impact because of seabed erosion and sedimentation causes bathymetry to vary with time. One storm can impose significant changes, as can seasonal variations in storm intensities. On eroding coasts, such short-term bathymetric modifications appear as fluctuations on top of the long-term retreat of the coastal profile. For the design of LCSs, it is important to know the lowest seabed level at the position of the structure, bearing in mind that the structure impose local changes if scour occurs. Every a maritime structure should comply with certain requirements of operationality, functionality, and reliability during a specific time interval. One of its purposes is to permit or facilitate a series of economic activities that will have social repercussions as well as impact on the physical environment. The main objective of the design of the structure is to verify the fulfillment of these objectives, requirements, repercussions, and impacts.
Coastal Engineering, Nov 1, 1994
Elsevier eBooks, 2007
A preliminary design has to demonstrate satisfactory functional performance and environmental imp... more A preliminary design has to demonstrate satisfactory functional performance and environmental impact at a level high enough for the objective comparison of several alternatives. Such design models are described in the chapter. At the pre-design stage, a number of alternatives meeting the functional objectives and legislative, and environmental and economical restrictions have to be worked out in such detail that an objective comparison can be performed. A proper weight has to be assigned to each indicator and a mark for each alternative is derived from the weighted sum of all the indicators, providing an objective selection of the optimum scheme. An example of selection of a sustainable scheme starting from several different alternatives is described in the chapter. It shows the selection of the scheme among design alternatives by means of representative weighted indicators, where the intervention is judged based on four main objectives of beach protection, intervention total costs, ecological, and social effects. To each objective, an equal weight of 1 is assigned and specific indicators within each area are equally weighted. The selected alternative is characterized by the greatest mark, which means a compromise among the judgments achieved for each specific design objective.
Elsevier eBooks, 2007
Both coastal protection (protection from erosion) and sea defense (defence from inundation) are i... more Both coastal protection (protection from erosion) and sea defense (defence from inundation) are influenced by EU policy and legislation, and by the translation of these at national level. Other legal issues relate to directives and legislation regarding the procedural steps to obtain necessary planning permissions and licenses for any defense scheme (such as consultation and freedom of access to environmental information). These approaches and their translation vary across Europe, but the overarching EU legislative requirements are the same. The chapter identifies the relevant directives that need to be considered when developing proposals for coastal protection and sea defense measures, including LCSs. These directives are divided into vertical and horizontal controls impacting the process. Horizontal directives are the EIA Directive(coastal defense works) and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (coastal works to combat erosion and works that alter the coastline). SEA is required where plans and programs are from particular sectors or otherwise from those which have significant environmental effects, and it sets the framework for future development consent of EIA projects or any plan that requires an appropriate assessment under the provisions of Habitats Directive.
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Papers by Alberto Lamberti