5 Overtopping and overflow

5 Overtopping and overflow#

Note to students#

This chapter contains information about overflow, wave run-up and overtopping relevant to the design and safety assessment of levees. Other aspects of run-up and overtopping are treated in the courses CIE5308 (Breakwaters and closure dams) and CIE4310 (Bed, Bank and Shore Protection).

Learning objectives#

After studying this chapter students are able:

  • To understand and explain the basic theoretical concepts of overflow wave run-up and overtopping;

  • To know the differences between mean overtopping rates and individual overtopping volumes;

  • To understand how the resistance of a levee can be expressed in terms of critical run-up and overtopping levels, and to estimate the order of magnitude of the resistance in a given situation;

  • To know the basic formulas for quantitative prediction of wave run-up and overtopping levels, and to apply them in a given situation.

Further reading#

Run-up and overtopping are important parameters not just for the design of levees. In fact they play a key role in the design of many other structures such as seawalls, promenades and breakwaters. A major source of information is the EurOtop manual, where you will find more background, design formulas and criteria for many situations not treated in these lecture notes (such as vertical structures and large wave walls) and references to other design methods (such as use of neural networks for overtopping prediction). The EurOtop manual can be found online at http://www.overtopping-manual.com/

Information about run-up and overtopping in the specific context of the Dutch flood defences can be found in the relevant TAW/ENW publications, in particular the “Leidraad Rivieren” and the “Technisch Rapport Golfoploop en Golfoverslag bij dijken”. These publications are in Dutch only, and can be downloaded from the TU Delft Virtual Knowledge Centre Hydraulic Engineering (dicea.nl or kennisbank-waterbouw.nl).

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