THE OFFSHORE BREAKWATER SCHEME AT SEA PALLING, ENGLAND: SAND TRANSPORT GENERATED BY TIDAL CURRENTS

The interaction between the alongshore, progressive wave tidal currents and the tidal tombolos existing in the lee of the shore parallel breakwaters at Sea Palling, Norfolk, UK, was examined. The TELEMAC2D and ARTEMIS hydrodynamic models were used to simulate tidal flows and waves conditions through the system, determining bed shear stresses and resultant sand transport during a spring-neap-spring cycle. Fieldwork measurements were used to validate the model results and propose values for the relative magnitude of sand transport occurring during calm, low-amplitude wave conditions. These occur as a background to much higher energy, at-shore wave events, the time series analyses of which, have previously been used to evaluate the regional sediment budget.