The influence of depth limited water conditions on the rock slope stability

The hydraulic stability of the armour layer of the rubble mound breakwaters have been widely discussed in the literature and several empirical formulas have been proposed for design purposes. Nevertheless, few studies focused on the armour stability in case of water depth limited water conditions.Then, the aim of the present research is to provide more insights into the stability of the armour layer ranging from intermediate till extremely shallow water conditions. To this end, a 2D physical experiments have been carried out at the EUropean Maritime and Environmental Research (EUMER) laboratory of the University of Salento (Lecce), in presence of a 1V:30H foreshore. Tests aimed to investigate both the nearshore hydrodynamics and the hydraulic armour stability under different irregular waves attack. Experimental results are also compared with the damage evaluated from the empirical formulations available in literature, in order to investigate the predicted damage level in the shallowness range analyzed.