Vertical breakwater

A vertical breakwater resists waves with a near-vertical front wall, usually a sand- or rubble-filled concrete caisson set on a leveled rubble foundation bed, reflecting wave energy rather than dissipating it on a slope. It suits deeper water and firm seabed where a rubble-mound section would need an uneconomic volume of armour stone. A composite type sits the caisson on a high rubble mound. Design checks sliding and overturning of the caisson under Goda wave pressures and bearing on the bed, per Takahashi and the USACE Coastal Engineering Manual. Standing-wave scour at the toe and impulsive breaking pressures govern reliability.