Conference Session

Hurricane Katrina

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

W. Robert Story, Virginia Tech; Brian LeCroy, Virginia Tech; Christina Pace, Virginia Tech; Michael Palmer, Virginia Tech; Leigh McCue, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

billion dollars, withat least 56 billion of those losses coming from hurricanes striking US mainland, and anotherestimated 10 billion attributable to the Indian Ocean tsunami.1 These losses pale in comparisonto the losses in human life, but much can be learned from these events and that knowledgeapplied to reduce the risk of both human and economic losses. Four of the most destructivenatural threats to shipping are hurricanes, rogue waves, inland storms, and tsunamis. Though thefirst three are much more common occurrences, all four have the potential to cause substantialdamage to ships that are exposed to the brunt of their powerful forces.Hurricanes create some of the most powerful and destructive winds known to the maritimeindustry. Causing

Conference Session

Ocean, Marine, and Coastal Engineering Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephen Wood, Florida Tech; Brian Howell, Western Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

development for specificmissions, and is being supported by research students from three different programs at thetwo institutions. The modular design of the vehicle has opened it to be an educationalplatform as well for undergraduate design activities in Ocean Engineering (FIT),Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (WCU), and Engineering Technology(WCU). Sparked by demands from the ocean community, Kamikaze has well definedmissions as follows: 1) Explore geochemical events of interest using feature basednavigation; 2) Explore and study coral reef ecological features; 3) Be able to recognizeand track events in various sensorial fields. Given this basic charter, a vehicle design wasbroken into small tasks. This paper describes the baseline

Conference Session

Ocean, Marine, and Coastal Engineering Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robert Dullanty, ATM

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

breasting dolphins. These pipe piles for the mooringdolphins also penetrate the limestone layer and resist uplift forces. Photos of the wharf extensionand these mooring and breasting dolphins are presented below.In summary, marine structures present an excellent opportunity to work with multipleengineering disciplines. They also allow for the use of multiple codes and references such as theAASHTO Bridge Code, UBC Building Codes, and areas where these traditional codes do notapply such as mooring loads and fender analysis. Photograph 1: Wharf Extension in Georgetown, South Carolina. This shows the vertical and batter steel pipe piles below the wharf extension

Conference Session

Hurricane Katrina

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Ryan, SE/ES, LLC; Glenn Schexnayder, Boh Bros. Construction; Ed Scheuermann, Boh Bros. Construction

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

. Construction Co. This paper reviews Phase I of the project,including bidding and construction challenges, in the context of a non-functioninginfrastructure resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Construction challenges are broken intotwo types: 1) challenges that would not commonly be expected in a populated area of anindustrialized country and 2) challenges that occur as a result of a fast-tracked marineconstruction project with an extraordinarily short amount of time allowed for planningand preparation. Specific innovations and strategies used to meet these challenges arehighlighted in detail.Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane, which reached its maximum recordedstrength as its pressure lowered to 902 mb (3rd lowest recorded

Conference Session

Hurricane Katrina

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qin Chen, University of South Alabama

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

Katrina is one of thedeadliest and costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. The 30 ft water surge generated byKatrina at landfall on the north Gulf Coast is the highest storm surge ever recorded in the UnitedStates [1] .Among the important lessons form Hurricane Katrina is the need for coastal engineering researchand education along the Gulf Coast. Consistent with the survey conducted by the NationalResearch Council in the late 1990s [ 2] , there are 21 institutions offering graduate programs incoastal engineering nationwide. However, most of the coastal engineering programs are locatedon the East and West Coasts. In fact, from the Florida Panhandle to the Louisiana-Texas boarder

Conference Session

Hurricane Katrina

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Charles Pierce, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

university students,even civil engineering students, do not understand the broad and complex role that civilengineers play in disaster planning and recovery efforts.To this end, a research-based course entitled Civil Engineering in the Wake of Katrina is beingtaught during the Spring 2006 semester at the University of South Carolina. This coursedeveloped, in part, from the author’s involvement with a service learning relief effort in Biloxi,MS to clean up after Hurricane Katrina1. The course was opened to both engineering and non-engineering students in the South Carolina Honors College. It is intended to 1) introduce thediscipline of civil and environmental engineering to both engineering and non-engineeringstudents, in light of conditions in the

Conference Session

Hurricane Katrina

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Clay Bolton, University of South Carolina; Charles Pierce, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

, one for each work day. TheStudent Government provided funding for transportation, student clothing, and medical supplies.Sodexho, the catering and food service provider for the university, generously donated over$1,000 worth of pizza, snacks, fruit, bottled water and sports drinks. Students who participatedin the relief effort did not have to bear any of the costs.Table 1 details the chronological development of the relief effort. Once the relief effort receivedfinal approval and the arrangements were complete, an email announcement was distributedthroughout the university on September 16. The announcement reads as follows:The University of South Carolina and the Salvation Army will take 106 students to the Mississippi Gulf Coastduring Fall

Conference Session

Ocean, Marine, and Coastal Engineering Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Walid Elshorbagy, United Arab Emirates University; Mir Azam, Chuden_Cti; Kouichi Taguchi, Chuden-Cti; Tetsuya Ichikawa, Chuden_Cti; tomohiko terasawa, Chuden_Cti

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

Emirates (UAE), and Oman(Figure 1). As these countries host more than 67% of the world oil reserve, theArabian Gulf is considered one of the most strategic semi-closed seas in the Page 11.1067.3world. The oil-related activities besides other development and anthropogenicactivities represent a permanent and hazardous source of accidental oil spills andeventually major marine pollution problems. Carrying out oil spill forecasts,ecological modeling, and other relevant environmental studies n the Arabian Gulfshould be based on sound and enough hydrodynamic data, most of which arescarce due to the limited conducted hydrodynamic studies.A number of hydrodynamic studies

Conference Session

Ocean, Marine, and Coastal Engineering Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Merrick Haller, Oregon State University; Antonio Baptista, Oregon Health & Science University

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

also presents several technical andscientific challenges. On the technical side, it is challenging to measure the wave conditionsbecause not only are the waves highly energetic, which makes it a difficult place to maintaininstrumentation, but the waves also show strong spatial variability. Hence, a single in-situwave sensor can only crudely characterize the changes in the wave conditions acrossestuarine bars. North JettiesFigure 1: Snapshot radar image from the mouth of the Columbia River.Marine radar systems (X-band imaging radars) were originally developed as a navigationalaid for obstacle avoidance, and the signal they receive from the ocean surface (“sea-clutter”)is typically

Conference Session

Ocean, Marine, and Coastal Engineering Topics

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Waters, U.S. Naval Academy; Randy Broussard, U.S. Naval Academy; Jenelle Piepmeier, U.S. Naval Academy

Tagged Divisions

Ocean and Marine

of two cameras as shown in Figure 1. The cameras with focal length f are aligned such that their x-axes are collinear and their y- and z-axes are parallel. They are offset along the x-axis by a baseline distance b. The location (X,Y,Z) of point P is computed by comparing the locations of the projections of P onto the two image planes, (x1,yl) and (xr,yr). Because of the geometry of the cameras, the left and right projections of P will appear at the same row and but at two different columns. The columnar distance in pixels is referred to as the disparity, d. Using simple camera geometry8, fb Z