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Full-Text Articles in Civil Engineering

Wetland Soil Development Along Salinity And Hydrogeomorphic Gradients In Active And Inactive Deltaic Basins Of Coastal Louisiana, Amanda Fontenot Jul 2022

Wetland Soil Development Along Salinity And Hydrogeomorphic Gradients In Active And Inactive Deltaic Basins Of Coastal Louisiana, Amanda Fontenot

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal wetlands provide an abundance of ecosystem services that benefit society, such as essential habitat for commercial species, storm protection, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage. Louisiana faces rapid rates of relative sea level rise (natural subsidence and eustatic sea levels) that threaten wetland survival, which are amplified by a reduction of riverine sediment input. An important determining factor of marsh survival is the formation of wetland platform elevation, known as vertical accretion, which is determined by several processes including sediment deposition & erosion, below ground biomass (BGB) productivity, decomposition of organic matter, shallow & deep subsidence, and soil compaction. Feldspar …


The Siltcatcher: A Sediment-Capture System For Wetland Creation And Coastal Protection In Western Lake Pontchartrain, Andrew M. Wright Apr 2020

The Siltcatcher: A Sediment-Capture System For Wetland Creation And Coastal Protection In Western Lake Pontchartrain, Andrew M. Wright

LSU Master's Theses

The West Lake Pontchartrain region faces a number of long-term environmental challenges due to anthropogenic climate disturbance and landscape modification, including sea level rise, increased storm surge risk, shoreline erosion, and wetland degradation. In response, this thesis applies recent research in the fields of landscape architecture and civil engineering to propose a dynamic, natural-systems solution for wetland creation and shoreline protection. The project envisions a series of breakwater-like structures in western Lake Pontchartrain positioned to slow water released from the nearby Bonnet Carré Spillway, causing suspended sediment to settle and create self-building and self-sustaining wetlands capable of keeping pace with …


Assessment And Correction Of Lidar-Derived Dems In The Coastal Marshes Of Louisiana, William M. Lauve Mar 2019

Assessment And Correction Of Lidar-Derived Dems In The Coastal Marshes Of Louisiana, William M. Lauve

LSU Master's Theses

The onset of airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) has resulted in expansive, precise digital elevation models (DEMs). DEMs are essential for modeling complex systems, such as the coastal land margin of Louisiana. They are used for many applications (e.g. tide, storm surge, and ecological modeling) and by diverse groups (e.g. state and federal agencies, NGOs, and academia). However, in a marsh environment, it is difficult for airborne lidar to produce accurate bare-earth measurements and even accurate elevations are rarely verified by ground truth data. The accuracy of lidar in marshes is limited by the sensor’s resolution …