Quantifying Vessel Propeller Wash Impacts on Sedimentation in Shallow-Bay Ports and Waterways

Shallow-bay ports and waterways along the Gulf Coast depend on regular dredging to stay navigable, but it's not well understood how much vessel traffic itself contributes to that sedimentation. This project measures propeller wash — the sediment disturbance caused by ship propellers near the channel bed — from deep-draft vessels transiting the Houston Ship Channel in Galveston Bay. The team will use vessel-mounted acoustic and electrical resistivity instruments alongside vessel traffic and channel bathymetry data to quantify how much sediment large ships mobilize, producing a field guide and applied design example that ports can use to plan and forecast dredging needs.