Hydraulic and earth engineering – Bank – shore – or bed protection – Wave or flow dissipation
Patent
1994-07-27
1996-03-26
Schoeppel, Roger J.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Bank, shore, or bed protection
Wave or flow dissipation
405 33, 405 35, E02B 304
Patent
active
055015468
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for dissipating the energy of waves in the sea or other body of water thereby bringing about a reduction in the heights of waves and wave field velocity as well as wave energy reflection.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Most of the work done in this field appears to have been directed at reducing erosion of beaches and shorelines. The present invention has been developed for the purpose of reducing the general damage caused along coastlines by the ocean during severe storms.
Considerable work has been done in these two related fields. Prior art known to the applicant includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,856,934 (Nelson), 4,431,337 (Iwasa), 4,269,537 (O'Neill), 4,711,598 (Schaaf), 4,129,006 (Payne), and 5,015,121 (Perret-Gentil) as well as the applicant's own European patent application #89.903981.2. All of these disclosures show constructions which present barriers of one kind or another which are wave permeable. It has become recognised that impermeable barriers often cause damage to adjacent shorelines and are moreover themselves susceptible to damage in severe storms.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a structure for dissipating the energy of waves impinging on a shore, the structure comprising a number of similarly shaped, spaced apart vanes positioned in at least one row on the floor of a body of water adjacent the shore so that passages for the waves are defined between at least some pairs of adjacent vanes, each vane being characterised in having a frontal portion which faces away from the shore, at least a part of the frontal portion comprising a zone which is inclined from the vertical so that an upper end of the zone is located further from the shore than a lower end thereof.
In one aspect of the invention each vane has a back portion at least a part of which comprises a zone which faces the shore and which is inclined from the vertical so that an upper end of the zone is located further from the shore than a lower end thereof.
In one form of the invention the passage has an entrance which is at least partly bounded by the frontal portions of the vanes and an exit which is at least partly bounded by the back portions of the vanes, the back portions being wider than the front portions so that the passage is narrower at the entrance than at the exit. The passage may advantageously be provided with a cross wall having a surface which slopes upwardly from the entrance to the exit.
In one aspect of the invention the frontal portion comprises an upper zone which adjoins a lower zone, each of the zones being inclined from the vertical with the upper end of the upper zone and the lower end of the lower zone being further from the shore than the locality at which the zones adjoin.
In another aspect of the invention each vane has a back portion comprising an upper zone which adjoins a lower zone, each of the zones facing the shore and being inclined from the vertical with the upper end of the upper zone and the lower end of the lower zone being further from the shore than the locality at which the zones adjoin. Each vane may advantageously be substantially cruciform. It may furthermore advantageously be substantially symmetrical about a vertical plane through its centre.
In one form of the invention the structure comprises a number of substantially identical modules, each module being integrally cast from a cementitious material and comprising a number of the vanes joined together by cross members located at or adjacent the localities at which the respective zones at which the back portions and the frontal portions adjoin.
In another form of the invention the structure comprises a number of vanes joined together at their upper and lower ends by cross members.
It is an important advantage of the invention that at least one of the passages may be spanned by at least one cross vane located between the upper end and the lower end of the passage and dividing the passage into sub-passages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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REFERENCES:
patent: 3380253 (1968-04-01), Vita
patent: 3386250 (1968-06-01), Katayama
patent: 3614866 (1971-10-01), Kaneko et al.
patent: 3753553 (1973-08-01), Bockting
patent: 4129006 (1978-12-01), Payne
patent: 4269537 (1982-05-01), O'neill
patent: 4431337 (1984-02-01), Iwasa
patent: 4711598 (1987-12-01), Schaaf et al.
patent: 4856934 (1989-08-01), Nelson
patent: 5015121 (1991-05-01), Perret-Gentil
patent: 5123780 (1992-06-01), Martinsen
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