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https://hdl.handle.net/11681/7682| Title: | Stability of blocked river mouth on west coast of Africa: inlet of Senegal River Estuary |
| Authors: | Barry, Kevin M. Kraus, Nicholas C. |
| Keywords: | Barrier island Coastal inlet Coastal processes Jetty Salinity Spit Tide Wave |
| Publisher: | Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.) |
| Series/Report no.: | ERDC/CHL TR ; 09-20. |
| Description: | Technical report The Senegal River is one of the largest in Western Africa. It rises in the highlands of Guinea, and flows to the Atlantic Ocean through a delta bounded on the seaward side by a southward-extending sand spit, the Langue de Barbarie. The Senegal River ranks seventh in terms of basin area and runoff among African rivers and second in Western Africa after the Niger River. The Senegal River mouth area lies in the Sahel zone, situated between the wet subequatorial belt and a dry tropic climatic belt. This zone features the presence of two distinct seasons within the year, a dry and a wet season (raining season). Until recently, the major processes that were taking place in the Senegal River mouth area involved the propagation of tidal variations in water surface elevation over large distances and the penetration (intrusion) of saline water into the river against the background of annual long-lasting periods of weak flow. Also, there are changes in configuration of the estuary and the growth of the spit (Langue de Barbarie) that bounds this mouth area from the ocean side. The hydrological regime of the Senegal River mouth area radically changed in 1986, after the Diama Dam was constructed in the delta area and formed an obstacle for the upstream propagation of both tidal variations in water level and seawater. The river mouth to the ocean also changed in 2003 after the construction of an artificial channel through Langue de Barbarie. This breach has grown considerably since its original construction and raised concerns about the potential threat to the city of Saint Louis. It is the purpose of this report to analyze both historical and recently collected data on the growth of the breach, assess the potential threat to the city, and develop conceptual alternatives of stabilizing the river mouth. |
| Rights: | Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11681/7682 |
| Appears in Collections: | Technical Report |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHL-TR-09-20.pdf | 3.03 MB | Adobe PDF |  View/Open |