This paper describes methods and results of research for incorporating four different parameterized wave breaking and dissipation formulas in a coastal wave prediction model. Two formulations assume the breaking energy dissipation to be limited by the Rayleigh distribution, whereas the other two represent the breaking wave energy by a bore model. These four formulations have been implemented in WABED, a directional spectral wave model based on the wave action balance equation with diffraction, reflection, and wave–current interaction capabilities. Four parameterized wave breaking formulations are evaluated in the present study using two high-quality laboratory data sets. The first data set is from a wave transformation experiment at an idealized inlet entrance, representing four incident irregular waves in a slack tide and two steady-state ebb current conditions. The second data set is from a laboratory study of wave propagation over a complex bathymetry with strong wave-induced currents. Numerical simulation results show that with a proper breaking formulation the wave model can reproduce laboratory data for waves propagating over idealized or complicated bathymetries with ambient currents. The extended Goda wave breaking formulation with a truncated Rayleigh distribution, and the Battjes and Janssen formulation with a bore model produced the best agreement between model and data.

curvilinear coordinate was developed and the engineering sedimentation method was used to study the possible impact of the coastal reclamation project of Mazucheng in the Meizhou Bay upon the tidal motion and the sediment siltation intensity in the vicinal sea area. The momentum equations were rewritten in the Lagrangian form and the convection term in the momentum equations was discretised by the Eulerian-Lagrangian method instead of the explicit upwind finite differences. The improved Double-Sweep-Implicit method was used to improve the computational stability and accuracy. Three comparative cases were studied on the basis of the satisfactory model verifications with field data. Computations show that the maximum change of tidal discharge would be smaller than 0.8% of that of the whole Meizhou Bay, indicating that the change of the situation of shoals and channels in the Meizhou Bay would be small. Based on numerical computations an optimum layout of the coastal reclamation project was recommended. For the recommended scheme, comparisons of the velocity field before and after the project revealed that there were a bit of changes in the vicinity of the project; the annual siltation intensity was smaller than 0.08m nearby the project site while that was smaller than 0.003m at the locations of main harbours and the navigation channel.