IMPACTS OF INLET STRUCTURES ON CHANNEL LOCATION

Abstract

Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey, has undergone a variety of structural changes in an attempt to provide a navigable channel from bay to ocean. These structures have included shoreline revetments, arrowhead jetties with their crest elevation at mean tide level, a sand dike to better align interior channel flow, a raised impermeable jetty, and now parallel jetties. Each of these structures has had significant influence on inlet hydraulics and sedimentation, which in turn has impacted channel location.