The Elbe estuary as part of the German Bight of the North sea provides the waters for the worls most frequented waterway to the City and Port of Hamburg in Northern Germany (Fig.1). At semi-diurnal tides with a range of approx. 3.5m, alternating tidal currents and sediments ranging from fine cohesive material such as clay or silt to fine and coarser sands signify the estuary. Maintenance of approximately 100 kilometers of navigational channel with widths ranging from 250 to 450 m and minimum depths of 13,5 m below chart datum is mostly done by dredging. Some stretches are holding natural depths of more than the required depth; in other parts the necessary flushing force of the current is achieved by concentration of flow thrugh the arrangement of groynes and training walls.
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