Importance and Implementation of a Tide Gauge Network in Coastal Plains
Seshadri Iyer Ph.D., PE, CFM (URS)Jeff Waller, PE(City of Virginia Beach)
TechSurge on Technical Support for
Coastal Resiliency
June 3, 2014
Introduction
• Coastal plains are defined by water– Ocean– Bay– Rivers/Creeks– Lakes
• Threatened by hurricanes, nor’easters,
severe rainfall events, wind driven tidal flooding, and sea-level rise!
Introduction
• As a first step in monitoring weather impacts:– Last year the City of Virginia Beach
implemented a network of rain gauge stations consisting of 14 rain gauges
Tide Gauge Network
• As a next step in monitoring weather impacts:– The City of Virginia Beach has initiated design
of eleven (11) tide gauge network stations.
• Install at each of the major water bodies;• Install at major creek/river crossings for
primary evacuation routes.
Importance of Tide Gauge Network
• Current PW Standards & Specification Manual provides designers with
Importance of Tide Gauge Network
• Monitoring tide level helps: – to shape future infrastructure development
guidelines, – the establishment of safe evacuation routes, – better coordination of storm alerts.– with the availability of real-time data, the City can
better respond in times of emergencies and better inform the concerned Citizens.
– over time, will be able to predict and assist in recovery efforts and reduce property losses.
Concluding Remarks
• Preliminary engineering is complete• Site survey and establishment of benchmark
monuments are complete• Geotechnical borings are completed• Structural drawings are being finalized• Summer of 2014 construction begins