THE SILTCATCHER: A SEDIMENT-CAPTURE SYSTEM FOR WETLAND CREATION AND COASTAL PROTECTION IN WESTERN LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

摘要

Louisiana's West Lake Pontchartrain faces water quality degradation, shoreline reduction, and sea-level rise owing to climate change and human-made modifications in the area. In this project, a student proposes a series of offshore breakwater-like structures to slow the flow of water from the nearby Bonnet Carre Spillway. With slowing water, suspended sediment would settle and help create wetlands that can ward against sea-level rise. To test out ideas, the student created a four-by-four-foot physical model of the area using a CNC machine to rout the drainage channels, and calculated the flow rates for the channel. A water pump was installed as a representation of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, and as water flowed across the model, it was made visible using tracer dye. Twenty different configurations were modeled, recorded, and analyzed to see where each configuration's deposit zones developed. The project was run for 20 hours, with each hour symbolizing a day and a new configuration, offering a dynamic look at how the landscape could change given different structures at strategic points before any ground is actually moved.