Large area basin (LAB)

Length - 47m
Width - 30m
Maximum depth - 0.8m
Waves - Up to 3 portable computer-controlled wave machines, each capable of generating irregular long-crested waves with significant heights up to 0.2m
Beaches - Flexible arrangement of passive wave absorbers and porous gravel beaches
Currents - Various options using recirculation channels, thrusters, pumps and weirs
Discharge - Up to 1.6 m3/s supplied from the adjacent High Discharge Flume
Drainable - Yes
Access - Easy access for construction equipment
Data acquisition - Up to 64 channels at 1000 samples per second

The basin can be equipped with up to three computer-controlled portable wave machines capable of producing a wide variety of irregular long-crested waves with heights up to 0.2 m. Large pumps and weirs under computer control can be used to produce tidal flows and simulate discharges from inlets, rivers and culverts. Discharges up to 1.6 m3/s (56 cfs) can be generated by tapping into the adjacent High Discharge Flume. The LAB can be quickly drained and filled, and can be easily accessed by construction equipment for building model bathymetries and structures. The facility is typically used to conduct large three-dimensional model studies of:

  • marinas, ports and harbours;
  • ship mooring and berthing;
  • coastal processes and nearshore circulation;
  • sediment transport, beach response and shoreline developments;
  • open channel flows in estuaries, rivers, canals and inland waterways;
  • the responses of moored ships to winds, waves and currents;
  • wave interaction with coastal and maritime structures;
  • scour, erosion and mitigation methods.
Image of a physical model of a marina in the LAB

Physical model of a marina in the LAB
 

Image of a physical simulation of hydrodynamics and sediment transport at a river mouth

Physical simulation of hydrodynamics and sediment transport at a river mouth

Contact

Noel Murphy
Telephone: 709-772-4939
Email: Noel.Murphy@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca