Application of sediment studies to increase port efficiency (Case Study: Caspian Sea)

Investigating and understanding sedimentation and erosion regimes on the coast, especially in maritime construction such as port complexes, is one of the most important processes in coastal and offshore engineering. According to empirical evidence, unfortunately most of Iran's southern and northern coasts have lost their initial and anticipated performance due to lack of attention to sedimentation problems at the design stage. Accordingly, identifying the most effective variables affecting the amount of sedimentation in the canal and relaxation pool will be of great importance. One of the specialized and specialized studies to predict the proper deposition of port areas is the use of numerical methods that can provide a proper prediction of future port conditions. In this article, the status of the port of Astara was investigated in terms of flow and sediment using the numerical model of Mike. Modeling results showed that the port is in dire straits in terms of sedimentary status and many sediments accumulate in the inlet opening of the wave, which reduces the performance of the port due to traffic in different capacities. Further studies have shown that in order to solve this problem, the port requires dredging in 5 years period. On the other hand, this dredging imposes heavy costs on the port. Therefore, given the high amount of sedimentation and disorder, it can be considered to reduce the deposition of a development phase in the surf arm.