EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF A CANAL ON THE TSUNAMI BORE-INDUCED FORCES EXERTED ON A COLUMN

In recent decades, tsunamis exerted significantly destructive impacts on infrastructure located near the coastlines and caused the death of numerous people (Nistor et al., 2009). Damage related to tsunami inundation has different causes, including direct hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loading due to inundation, impact forces from water-borne debris, fire spread by floating debris and combustible liquids, and scour and slope/foundation failure. Various design provisions and planning/zoning measures have been introduced to reduce the tsunami-induced effects on coastal infrastructure. Although several guidelines and regulations for designing coastal structures against tsunami effects have been proposed, further studies are required to add new provisions for abatement measures against tsunamis. In this study, in the premiere, the authors measured and quantified the magnitude and time-history of the force exerted by tsunami bores on a structural column when passing over a water canal, showing its attenuating effect.