Sedimentary Process in Navigation Channel in an Estuarine Port, - A Case Study from the Port of Niigata, Japan

Abstract

AbstractThe present study focused on the siltation process at the navigation channel in the Port of Niigata, Japan. A part of the port is located at the mouth of the Shinano River, which is the longest one in the country. Due to the discharged sediments through the river and their deposition in the port area, frequent dredging works are required for the safety navigations in the waterway and turning basins. The purpose of the present study is to get a better understanding of the specific features of the sedimentary process in the target area for the consideration of any appropriate countermeasures for the optimization of the dredging works. In the present study, we especially focus on the sedimentation processes around the dredged navigation channel, which need frequent dredging to keep the planned depth from −5.5 to −12 m, under the complicated estuarine hydraulic conditions and several field measurements have been carried out, including current measurements, bathymetric surveys by acoustic soundings with a narrow multibeam sonar system.