Field measurements of ship waves along the St. Lawrence river waterway, Canada

Coastal erosion along the St. Lawrence river waterway in Quebec, Canada, represents a hazard to local communities living along the river banks, as well as to the local fauna habitat. The purpose of this study is to assess the potential impact of longer containerships on riverbank erosion and recession at critical sites along the Saint Lawrence river waterway. A field study was carried out to investigate the ship-generated hydrodynamics and the various driving mechanisms of the erosion process induced by ship waves. The field measurements provided an assessment of the influence of length of large vessels by comparing the characteristics of the hydrodynamics fields induced by the passage of two containerships of different lengths. The potential for bank erosion and recession is assessed in terms of wake erosive energy incident to the shoreline. The field data is compared against analytical results predicted by an empirical model.