Platform level Safety against flooding and erosion

5 Platform level Safety against flooding and erosion 

The platform level of fills placed in coastal areas or along rivers must be sufficiently high to prevent them from flooding and limit surface erosion. 

The design of the fill height takes into account the tidal variation, wind set up, wave run up and wave overtopping. Common practice is to express the design platform level in terms of the probability of occurrence of a water level exceeding this design platform level. The same concept of probability of occurrence is used to specify the maximum wave run up usually defined as a maximum volume of overtopping water per unit of time (litres/s). 

The allowable occurrence is expressed as an acceptable number of times per year, usually depending on the consequences (loss of human life, the value of the infrastructure on the reclamation area). 

Except for beach nourishments, fill slopes exposed to wave and current action must be provided with a shore protection (see Section 10.4). 

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