Intertidal and Nearshore Geotechnics

Coastal intertidal (between high and low tide water levels) and nearshore (shallow-water area stretching from the low tide line out to where significant wave action stops affecting the seabed) zones represent the intersections where land meets the sea. They’re areas of high economic development, recreational use, and unique habitats and environments. They’re also home to many different infrastructure systems, including pipelines and cables, piers, docks, buildings, bridges, roads, navigation channels, and gray and green coastal protection infrastructure systems. At the same time, coastal environments are exposed to the hydrodynamic effects of tides, waves, storm surge, inundation, and geomorphodynamics on varying temporal and spatial scales. This means that surficial soils, even to a sediment depth of a meter and more, are frequently eroded, moved, and redeposited.