Visual assessment of bayed beach stability with computer software

The parabolic bay shape model is the only morphological model that has the mechanism for the evaluating beach stability and predicting shoreline changes arising from structures built on a curved beach. However, application of this parabolic model has been largely in manual form, by tracing the calculated bay shape on a map or aerial photograph after hand calculation. To overcome this drawback, a software package called model for equilibrium planform of bay beaches (MEPBAY) written in Object Pascal language is proposed to facilitate the model application. MEPBAY calculates the idealized shoreline planform of a headland-bay beach in static equilibrium based on the parabolic model. It then presents the results graphically on a screen display overlaying the image of the existing beach. It thus allows the stability of a headland-bay beach to be assessed visually by comparing the existing shoreline periphery with the static equilibrium planform. The software offers a friendly environment from simple input to instant visualization of the results. MEPBAY not only helps students understand the morphological process, but also provides engineers with a valuable tool for practical applications on shoreline protection and coastal management.