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US Army Corps of Engineers

Coastal Inlets Research Program

Sediment Mobility Tool (SMT)

The Sediment Mobility Tool (SMT) is a scoping level numerical model for siting nearshore placement areas of dredged material.  The tool uses Snell’s Law to transform WIS hindcast wave data to the nearshore site.  The depth of closure, which is a specified depth along a beach profile where net sediment transport is very small or nonexistent, is calculated using several commonly used empirical equations which are described by Brutsché (2016).  The frequency of sediment mobility is calculated using both linear and nonlinear stream function wave theories using procedures described by McFall (2016).  The cross-shore sediment migration is calculated using an empirical relationship described by Larson and Kraus (1992).  The wave rose provides the axis of wave dominated transport at the nearshore site.
Benefits: SMT can provide a scoping level assessment of potential nearshore placement sites of dredged material using readily data. SMT calculates the frequency that sediment of particular grain sizes will be mobilized and where it is likely to go.
Application: Recent application of the tool include Duck, North Carolina, Milford, Connecticut, Vilano Beach, Florida, Ogden Dunes, Indiana, Illinios Beach State Park, Illinois, and Palm Beach, Florida.

The tool can be accessed from the following link:
https://navigation.usace.army.mil/SEM/SedimentMobility
A link to the existing Depth of Closure page is given below:
https://cirp.usace.army.mil/products/depth-of-closure.php


Points of Contact
Brian.C.McFall@usace.army.mil
Katherine.E.Brutsche@usace.army.mil
Engineer Research and Development Center
Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory
Vicksburg, MS 39180