Just some time ago most of the coastal works were made by attempts, due to insufficient knowledge of the mechanics of coastal processes. Indeed, the dynamics of the movement of coastal sediments began to be more intensively studied after Second World War.
In Brazil, the first Hydraulic Laboratory that studied coastal engineering works was the CTH, with the pioneer scale model for the Amelioration of Cananeia Bar (SP), made by the CTH (1955) with the purpose to improve the Access Channel for a fishery port.
For the solution of relevant practical problems of Coastal Engineering, such as the sedimentation of ports and the erosion of beaches, is fundamental to know the sediment budget in the área with the purpose of calibrate and validate models.
The definition of the most suitable work in general is not immediate, since rarely the real situation is simple and schematized by a linear relationship between the problem and the type of work, often using the combination of different types of works.
Since the fifties the CTH has made several coastal engineering studies, scale models and numerical models to government and private institutions, including:
♦ Impact of training walls in the coastline.
♦ Evaluation of the effectiveness of training walls for the improvement of navigation.
♦ Evaluation of the effectiveness of dredging works.
♦ Impact of detached breakwaters in the coastline.
♦ Improvement of dredging procedures.