SUPERSLR - Stanford University's Project on Engineering Responses to Sea Level Rise

Responses

1. Overarching design considerations (soil conditions, biology, wind, tides, waves, hydrology, water depth, availability of materials, …)
2. Which waves are most important - long, short waves from deep sea vs. nearshore tall waves?
3. Interplay between coastal protection and maintenance of shipping channel, flood gates, locks
4. Fish tunnels / wildlife protection considerations
5. Data required (peak number, high/low, average, …), e.g., for the Rhine what data is or would be critical to have
6. What critical factors drive the conceptual design of a dike for a location?
7. What are the major cost drivers in building and maintaining a dike?
8. Importance of land subsidence?
9. Example of a conceptual design and material and cost estimate vs. a detailed design and material and cost estimate for the same dike
10. Sources of funding for construction - local, state, federal, international levels
11. Differences between dike design in Nordic areas (i.e. where a lot of the research has been done) vs. Pacific Coast and Atlantic Coast
12. Best suite of approaches: dikes, breakwaters, locks, beach nourishment, seawalls, relocation, artificial reefs, levies, groins, dunes, etc.
13. How much risk is tolerable, and what should be the priority factors in assessing risk?
14. Design flood - 1/2500, 1/10000, or another factor (probability of design flood per year)
15. Major equipment needed and output (production) of the equipment
16. Different designs that can be built by specialized vs. general construction firms

1. What is the current use of synthetic materials in coastal protection and construction?
2. What are promising emerging methods of design and construction?

1. Total length
2. Maximum height/depth/width, typical height/depth/width
3. Most common type(s)
4. Most common cross section(s)
5. Cost to rebuild today
6. Maintenance efforts/expenditures required
7. Design life and acceptable risk (e.g., designed for a 10,000 year storm)

1. Number of contractors that can build large-scale dikes
2. Number of engineering firms who can provide design and inspection services
3. Major equipment available