Portugal: Deltares Tests Breakwater on Madeira

Wave loading on the Lugar de Baixo marina on the island of Madeira (Portugal) is so severe that the marina cannot be used and the breakwater suffered serious damage.

A new breakwater is needed. Deltares is advising the local government, conducting a model study in the Delta Basin to test the design of a new breakwater for stability and wave overtopping. The new design uses material deposited by creeks during the disastrous floods of 2010.

Deltares had already conducted a wave climate study for this marina some years ago, which demonstrated that wave loading had been seriously underestimated and that the existing breakwater is inadequate. The new design is based on that study.

[mappress]

Press Release, February 25, 2013