NUMERICAL WAVE MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF COASTAL BREAKWATERS FOR THE MITIGATION OF EXTREME EVENT IMPACTS IN SANTOS/SP

Abstract

Santos, as a low-lying coastal city, suffers damages from storm surges that affect both the shoreline and port activities. This study defines the characteristics of extreme wave events used as boundary conditions in numerical modeling and assesses the mitigation of their impacts through simulated scenarios in Santos Bay, with and without coastal protection structures. The critical thresholds were based on the Santos’s Plano Preventivo de Contingência para Ressacas and Coastal Flooding and on past events. Simulations using the Delft3D model considered two scenarios: without protection and with emerged breakwaters. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of numerical modeling as a predictive tool and the feasibility of breakwater structures as a robust measure to mitigate impacts and enhance shoreline resilience