Post-Lenny Training in
Coastal Infrastructure Design,
Construction and Maintenance
www.oas.org/cdcm_train
Raymond Charles
University of the West Indies - Faculty of Engineering
Jan Vermeiren
Organization of American States
Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment
February 2002
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Hurricane Lenny: Overview
Wind
Impacts
Hurricane Lenny, November 1999
• An intense late season storm moving
on an unusual west to east track.
• Caused extensive wave damage
throughout the Caribbean.
• Estimated total damages of US$268
million in Antigua/Barbuda,
Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia
Model Run Details
Job Name: lenny
Storm Name: LENNY
Watson Technical Consulting
TAOS/HP Version 8.0
Run at 4459.4 meter grid
SLOSHB wind module.
LULC disabled.
Produced by
Watson Technical Consulting
Using the TAOS HURAPAK system
Copyright (C) 2000, C. Watson
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Hurricane Lenny: Waves
Observed effects at Soufriere
• 6-8 m waves reported. [CIMH]
• Severe damage to a small craft
jetty
Antigua
Guadeloupe
Dominica
Sig Wave Ht (m)
Martinique
St. Lucia
St. Vincent
Barbados
Grenada
TAOS Model Results
(for Soufriere St. Lucia)
Model Time (hrs)
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Hurricane Lenny: Damages
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Coastal Infrastructure Design,
Construction and Maintenance (CDCM)
• Designed to reduce long-term vulnerability of
coastal infrastructure through expanded capacity for
appropriate design, construction and maintenance
• Part of USAID’s Caribbean Regional Program
(Kingston Jamaica) response to Hurricane Lenny
• Executed by the OAS and implemented by the
Engineering Institute of the University of the West
Indies (Trinidad campus), in conjunction with Old
Dominion University and the Army Corps of
Engineers’ Coastal Hydrology Laboratory
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
CDCM Training Program:
Needs Assessment
• Regional coastal engineering needs assessment
undertaken to establish baseline, guide project design
• Findings:
→Coastal zone management planning limited
→Need for sound data collection and analysis procedures
→EIA currently used, application should be expanded
→Coastal infrastructure design standards need improvement
→Inspection and maintenance of coastal infrastructure lacking
→Good materials lab and quarries available in the region
→Good pool of contractors available in the region, but
specialized training is needed.
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
CDCM Training Program:
Training Courses
Target Audience: Engineers, Planners
152 training opportunities, core of ~25 participants
Courses: June-September 2001
• Coastal Zone Management, Antigua and Barbuda (June) and
St. Lucia (July)
• Coastal Defense Systems: Part I, St. Lucia (July), and Part II,
Dominica (Aug)
• Monitoring and Maintenance, Grenada (Sept)
• Design of Marine Structures, Trinidad and Tobago (Sept)
USACE’s Coastal Engineering Manual used extensively
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Hurricane Hazard Information for
Caribbean Coastal Construction
Web-based application to provide access to regional,
return-period based storm hazard information
• Map-based interface
• User selects return
period, projection limit
• Point and click report
generation
• Information on storm
surge, wind and wave
hazards
http://cdcm.eng.uwi.tt
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Report Format
Site Map and Data Location
Site information
Hazard Data
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Data and Maps
Storm Surge
Wave
Height
Storm
Surge
0.553 meters
See the Storm Surge Application Notes for information on these
Wind Wave Height is 1.678 meters
Significant
values.
Significant Wave Period is 5.004 seconds
map is
10 minute Notes
average
SeeWind
the Wave
Application
forwind.
information on these values.
- Units meters/sec
Knots
MPH
10 min ave 1 min sust
47.079
57.907
91.333
112.340
104.986
129.133
3 sec gust
65.145
126.382
145.274
See the Wind Application Notes for information on these values.
Site Details
User selected site is at lon/lat -61.734165 17.550834.
Elevation is -1.720 meters (negative indicates below sea Results are from the high-res (6as)
level).
Antigua/Barbuda/St. Kitts/Nevis dataset
The terrain/exposure type is Ocean.
50 year maximum likelihood estimate
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
CDCM Training Program:
Recommendations
Expand the building of expertise, institutional capacity:
•
•
•
•
academic capacity for coastal engineering at UWI
design, implement follow-on training program
organize annual Caribbean coastal management conference
develop web-based network linking academic and specialized
institutions with coastal engineers, managers
Develop regional tools for data management, analysis:
•
•
•
•
Promote use of coastal resources inventory system (CRIS)
regional-scale advanced coastal processes modeling
maintain/improve climate, sea level, beach monitoring networks
production of and access to new bathymetric data
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
CDCM Training Program:
Recommendations (cont’d)
Assist development of national implementation plans:
• update CRIS, national GIS with recent coastal information
• identify critical and at-risk locations, develop monitoring
strategies
• develop and implement (as pilot) an island coastal management
plan, disseminate results in region
Bring the problem of inadequate design and construction to the
attention of the political and civil society leadership
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program
Where could the national
economy have been
if this had not failed?
Caribbean Coastal Infrastructure
Engineering Training Program