M. Dolores Esteban

Cancun-Nizuc Coastal Barrier

Abstract This paper is the result of the analysis of several studies made by the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) (during 1989–1991) and by the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE) (during 2000–2001 and 2003) since hurricane Gilbert hit the Yucatan Peninsula (1988). The analysis was finished at the end of 2004 with the development of a hydrodynamic and morphodynamic model of the littoral system. These studies were looking for a solution to the erosion suffered by the Cancun littoral barrier (“island”) and to obtain a good understanding of the littoral dynamic processes in the barrier of Cancun-Nizuc. Although the erosion of this barrier only became obvious after Gilbert occurred, there is evidence to conclude that the hurricane effects are not the origin of the erosion. The hurricane only worsened a process that existed for a long time, probably due to the inadequate and excessive occupation of the beach front that reduced the capacity of recovery (“resilience”) of the beach profile. Different measures were taken to protect the zone, but they soon failed; the erosion continued and hurricanes Ivan and Wilma worsened the conditions of the whole barrier. Finally, the recovery of the barrier was tackled by means of sand nourishment. This nourishment has been completed in June 2006 in parallel with the drafting of this paper.

Offshore Wind Foundation Design: Some Key Issues

Despite the growth of the offshore wind industry, there are currently doubts relating to the design of wind facilities in the sea. This paper expounds current, already identified structural uncertainties: problems for soil characterization and transition piece (TP) design. This document also introduces new doubts or issues to be researched in the near future in this field (wave theory, scour process, wave load actions, scale difficulty, etc.), not as yet identified due to the scarce experience in the offshore wind industry. With this in mind, technical offshore wind standards related to foundation design have been reviewed.

Dimensionless wave height parameter for preliminary design of scour protection in offshore wind farms

ABSTRACT Matutano, C., Negro, V., López-Gutiérrez, J.S., Esteban, M.D. and del Campo, J.M, 2013. Dimensionless wave height parameter for preliminary design of scour protection in offshore wind farms The scour phenomenon jeopardizes the operating capacity of offshore structures since it compromises their stability. The study of this phenomenon in the field of offshore wind farms began few years ago. Considering that these structures are subjected to waves, currents and tides. This article describes the results of an investigation aimed at the analysis methods used in the design of the protections against scour phenomenon on offshore wind farms in transitional waters, using medium and large diameter monopile type deep foundations. In order to do this, a thorough review of those premises was performed, from one of the first experiences in 1991 (Denmark), to the recently implemented and proposed in the UK, defining its main characteristics (acting maritime climate, the correlation between wave height and period associated with a given recurrence) and the type of protection used (weight average, nominal diameter in the case of breakwater type protection, width and behavior). Taking into consideration the experience with offshore wind farms in current operation, the design data analysis, the basis of climate and the soil-structure interaction, the dimensionless wave height parameter (H0), the erosion extension (Lext), and the quantification of maximum scour depth (Smax) have been calibrated for a preliminary design of protections around a large diameter pile, obtaining initial values for H0 in the vicinity of 6 and 15, and values for the extension of protection design between L/4 and L/2.

Review of coastal Land Reclamation situation in the World

ABSTRACT Martín-Antón, M.; Negro, V.; del Campo, J.M., López-Gutiérrez, J.S., and Esteban M.D., 2016. Review of coastal Land Reclamation situation in the World. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 667–671. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Land reclamation from the sea has been occurring since ancient times, especially in harbors. The vast majority of the worlds docks now occupy spaces that were once water and this heavily influences the coastal landscape. Japan has been one of the countrys most needing to expand into the sea due to its topography and land requirements for agriculture, urbanization and, especially, industries and port facilities. Ninety per cent of Tokyo Bays coastline is reclaimed land, which is almost 250 km2 of new land. In the 21st century, this disproportionate conquest of the sea has shifted to other countries. In the Persian Gulf, the coast has been indiscriminately occupied with artificial island projects for residential purposes. Some of them are finding some difficulties, such as “The Palms” and “The World” in Dubai, with a loss of sand, which is effect of currents and waves. In China, due to economic expansion and export needs, industrial areas are spreading on the coast. Caofeidian (Bohai Bay) is the largest landfill island in the world with 150 km2, more than twice the sum of Dubai islands area. This disproportion of public works in Asia contrasts with the rest of the world. For example, the Bay of Algeciras (Spain-UK) is the largest container traffic Port in the Mediterranean with 2.5 km2 of reclaimed land, 100 times less than Tokyo Bay. A further problem associated with this practice is liquefaction, caused mainly by earthquakes, leading to ground subsidence in buildings, such as in Niigata (1964) or in San Francisco (1989), all on reclaimed land. This research paper aims to study land reclamation in the World with current statistics, geotechnical problems, the impact on the coastal landscape and future developments.

The effect of scour protections in offshore wind farms

ABSTRACT Matutano, C., Negro, V., López-Gutiérrez, J. S., Esteban, M.D., Hernández, A,. 2014. The effect of scour protections in offshore wind farms. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 012–017 ISSN 0749-0208. The installation of offshore scour protection systems in offshore wind farms allows avoid the effect of scour phenomenon around these structures. Up to date, numerous research projects have been carried out to justify the necessity of the scour protection systems and also to optimize their design. Protection systems based on riprap is frequently used due to its low cost and easy availability compared to other solutions such as geotextile bags or prefabricated concrete blocks. The sizing of these structures can be performed according to a series of recommendations that can optimize the costs associated with them, but there have been only few studies with real data up to now which have allowed identify the need for such protections. This investigation aims to assess the functionality of the scour protections adopted through the available data about their characteristics and the scour depth developed around the foundations. In this sense, this paper presents the results of a study that analyzes the functionality of scour protections in different European offshore wind farms.

Hydrodynamic Regimes in Offshore Wind Farms

ABSTRACT Matutano, C.; Negro, V.; López-Gutiérrez, J.S., and Esteban, M.D., 2016. Hydrodynamic regimes in offshore wind farms. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 892–896. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Offshore wind power has sharply increased its presence in the last few decades. This expansion has derived in much bigger structures to be placed on the seabed; however, no revision about hydrodynamic regimes that should be taken into account during the design of these facilities has been carried out. The equations developed by Morison et al. in 1950 to estimate the wave loads are commonly assumed as valid within professional and scientific activity, and no revision of their investigation has been carried out since then. The formulation developed 65 years ago may not be reliable enough to accurately predict the phenomena, since they were established for smaller bodies. This paper analyses the available data from several European offshore wind farms in order to determine their hydrodynamic domain and nature of forces that structures bear. The analysis has been performed with the aim of establishing the relationship between inertia and drag forces acting on piles under wave loading conditions. Different criteria from main standards within the sphere of maritime works have been followed for the analysis. Results clearly show how inertia dominates in most cases and, consequently, the acceleration of fluid particle motion is a critical variable for predicting coastal phenomena. In this sense, this research remarks the importance of that mathematical expressions incorporate this fact, both for structural calculation and coastal process prediction and they should be reviewed in future research studies.

An analysis of recent changes in Spanish Coastal Law

ABSTRACT Negro, V., López-Gutiérrez, J.S., Esteban, M.D., Matutano, C., 2014. An analysis of recent changes in Spanish Coastal Law. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 448–453, ISSN 0749-0208. Spanish coastal legislation has changed in response to changing circumstances. The objective of the 1969 Spanish Coastal Law was to assign responsibilities in the Public Domain to the authorities. The 1980 Spanish Coastal Law addressed infractions and sanctions issues. The 1988 Spanish Coastal Law completed the responsibilities and sanctions aspects and included others related to the delimitation of the Public Domain, the private properties close to the Public Domain, and limitations on landuse in this area. The 1988 Spanish Coastal Law has been controversial since its publication. The “European Parliament Report on the impact of extensive urbanization in Spain on individual rights of European citizen, on the environment and on the application of EU law, based upon petitions received”, published in 2009 recommended that the Spanish Authorities make an urgent revision of the Coastal Law with the main objective of protecting property owners whose buildings do not have negative effects on the coastal environment. The revision recommended has been carried out, in the new Spanish Coastal Law “Ley 2/2013, de 29 de mayo, de protección y uso sostenible del litoral y de modificación de la Ley 22/1988, de 28 de Julio, de Costas”, published in May of 2013. This is the first major change in the 25 years since the previous 1988 Spanish Coastal Law. This paper compares the 1988 and 2013 Spanish Coastal Law documents, highlighting the most important issues like the Public Domain description, limitations in private properties close to the Public Domain limit, climate change influence, authorizations length, etc. The paper includes proposals for further improvements.

Software for Predicting Hydrodynamic Pressures on Offshore Pile Foundations: The Next Step in Ocean Energy Development

ABSTRACT Escobar, A.; Negro, V.; Lopez-Gutierrez, J.S., and Esteban, M.D., 2016. Software for predicting hydrodynamic pressures on offshore pile foundations: The next step in ocean energy development. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 841–845. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The purpose of this study is to carry out a thorough, critical analysis of the Morison equation as far as calculating wave action on large diameter piles like those used nowadays in offshore wind farms is concerned. The aim is to observe whether models currently used to estimate wave forces on piles are valid for large diameter piles apart from observing what the main forces in play in scouring are. This equation enables wave produced forces on a cylinder supported on the sea bed to be calculated. The study includes observations on the calculation models sensitivity as to a variation in the cylinders diameter, on the one hand and, on the other, as to temperature and salinity variation. With this in mind, specific software has been developed to simulate equations in fluid mechanics applied to solve the wave–structure interaction problem in the separation, inertial and diffraction range. This software will enable an iterative calculation to be made for finding out the shape of the pressure wave caused when a wave passes over and will show the results for different pile diameters and water temperature.

Meteocean Influence on Inland and Coastal Floods in the East of Spain

ABSTRACT Diez, J.J.; Esteban, M.D.; López-Gutiérrez, J.S., and Negro, V., 2013. Meteocean influence on inland and coastal floods in the east of Spain. The Santa Irene flood, at the end of October 1982, is one of the most dramatically and widely reported flood events in Spain. Its renown is mainly attributable to the collapse of the Tous dam, but its main message is to be the paradigm of the incidence of the maritime/littoral weather and its temporal sea-level rise on the coastal plains inland floods. The Santa Irene flood was attributable to a meteorological phenomenon known as gota fría (cold drop), a relatively frequent and intense rainy phenomenon on the Iberian Peninsula, particularly on the Spanish E to SE inlands and coasts. There are some circumstances that can easily come together to unleash the cold drop there: cold and dry polar air masses coming onto the whole Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa, high sea-water temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure (cyclone) areas in the western Mediterranean basin; these circumstances are quite common during the autumn and, as it happens, in other places around the world (E/SE Africa). Their occurrence, however, shows a great space-temporal variability (in a similar way to hurricanes on Caribbean and western North Atlantic areas or also in a similar way to typhoons). In fact, all of these are equivalent, although different, phenomena, able to have a different magnitude each time. This paper describes the results of a detailed analysis and reflection about this cold drop phenomenon as a whole, on the generation of its rains, and on the different natures and consequences of its flood. This paper also explains the ways in which the nearby maritime weather and the consequential sea level govern floods on different zones of any hydrographical basin. The Santa Irene case can be considered as a paradigm to explain the influence of nearby maritime climatic conditions on flooding phenomena not only in coastal but also in upward inland areas.

New Coastal Regulation in Spain. A roadmap to a better approach to coastal environment

ABSTRACT López-Gutiérrez, J.S.; Negro, V., and Esteban, M.D., 2016. New Coastal Regulation in Spain. A roadmap to a better approach to coastal environment. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 662–666. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The decision to draw a fixed line dividing land into two different types of property – public domain and privately owned land – in a changeable environment is a potentially major source of conflict in Spain. This conflict is caused by adapting this fixed line to the movements of the shoreline. Obviously, then, the limit has to move its position from time to time. The current Spanish Coastal Law was published in 2013. As written, it cannot be considered a single document because it has to be read together with the previous 1988 Coastal Law document in order to gain a complete view of the current Spanish Coastal Law. The new Coastal Regulation was published in 2014. The paper shows and analyzes changes in the 2013 Law and the 2014 Regulation in comparison with the previous 1988 Coastal Law and the 1989 Regulation. Some of the changes set forth in the paper are: a more accurate definition of the position of the Public Domain limit; a new definition of the severe regression concept; a new classification of the uses of beaches depending on the characteristics of the area; consideration of the climate change effects; possibility of transferring, inter vivos and causa mortis, of properties located in the public domain under government concession, etc. All these lead drive to major improvements in coastal management in Spain. In addition, this paper includes some proposals for further improvements.