Rehabilitation of Hartlepool Town Wall

The combined use of both numerical and physical model tests has supported optimisation of the design of the set-back flood defence wall at the rear of the Hartlepool Town Wall by providing detailed information on overtopping discharges and design hydrodynamic loads. An extensive physical model study was performed in one of the wave flumes at HR Wallingford, a series of crest configurations were tested and their performances assessed over a range of wave conditions and water levels. The OpenFOAM computational fluid dynamics model was then validated and calibrated by reproducing selected physical model tests and subsequently used to gather further insight in the loading process and assess wave-induced loads for use in the design of the seawall.