LIC

The Costal Engineering Laboratory (LIC) of the Department of Civil, Environmental, Building Engineering and Chemistry of the Technical University of Bari was designed for advanced research and technical support to the Public Administration in coastal territorial management. The LIC was financed by the EU (European Union) and the Apulia Region (so-called Programma Operativo Plurifondo Puglia – D.R. 29/10/90 n. 6155, Structural Funds CEE-REG. CEE n. 20522/68 e 4253/88, Sottoprogramma 6, Misura 6.3). The construction of the laboratory was completed and started operating in February 2001.
The mission of the laboratory is to provide facilities for researchers, PhD and MSc-students, as well as to perform practical work and demonstrations in support of teaching at the University. It also has the potential for physical-experimental research in the fields of Maritime and Environmental Hydraulics.

The Coastal Engineering Laboratory (LIC) of the DICATECh of the Technical University of Bari – Italy
 
Chief Scientist of the LIC: prof. Michele Mossa 
LIC – Coastal Engineering Laboratory
Area Universitaria di Valenzano 
Strada Provinciale Valenzano - Casamassima, Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, BA – Italy
www.michelemossa.it 
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6477-8714 

The Costal Engineering Laboratory (LIC) of the Department of Civil, Environmental, Building Engineering and Chemistry of the Technical University of Bari was designed for advanced research and technical support to the Public Administration in coastal territorial management. The LIC was financed by the EU (European Union) and the Apulia Region (so-called Programma Operativo Plurifondo Puglia – D.R. 29/10/90 n. 6155, Structural Funds CEE-REG. CEE n. 20522/68 e 4253/88, Sottoprogramma 6, Misura 6.3). The construction of the laboratory was completed and started operating in February 2001. 
The mission of the laboratory is to provide facilities for researchers, PhD and MSc-students, as well as to perform practical work and demonstrations in support of teaching at the University. It also has the potential for physical-experimental research in the fields of Maritime and Environmental Hydraulics.
The core activities of the LIC are managing, procuring and maintaining the facilities and equipment in the laboratory. These activities also include setting up, performing and processing of measurements in experiments, as well as developing the required numerical codes. Furthermore, the laboratory provides support to the design and construction of experimental facilities, specific installations, apparatus and equipment.
The laboratory has a total surface area of 30,000 m2, a laboratory area of 12,000 m2 and an office area of 500 m2 of 5000 m2. 

The laboratory has several wave basins and channels. The major experimental facilities at LIC are: 

1.    Two tanks used for three-dimensional physical models for maritime and costal engineering research. The model area consists of two large basins; one used for costal modelling and the other for offshore modelling. The costal model basin is 100 m long, 50 m wide and 1.2 m deep, while the offshore model basin is 50 m long, 30 m wide and 3 m deep. The costal model facility is equipped with a series of three-dimensional wave makers, having 6 modules, 8 paddles 60 cm wide, with maximum wave front length equal to 28.8 m and maximum height 30 cm.
As an example, the basin for off-shore physical models was used in a National Interest Research Program to analyses tsunami waves generated by landslides in water, the mechanics of wave generation and propagation, the development of forecasting tools and the real-time warning systems based on tidal measurements (for further details, please visit the following page of the IAHR Media Library: http://www.iahrmedialibrary.net/stromboli-island-tsunami-1/).

 2.    Two wave channels, which are 2.4 m wide, 50 m long and 1.2 m deep. They are equipped with a two-dimensional wavemaker with one module, 4 paddles, each 60-cm wide, providing a maximum wave height of 30 cm. 
 
3.    Very large flume for sea currents

The very large flume consists of a rectangular steel channel, with base and lateral walls of 15 mm thick transparent glass material, connected and sealed internally with watertight silicone rubber, able to prevent thermal dilatation. The base has a surface of 15 m by 4 m and the depth of the channel is 0.4 m. To create a current inside the channel, a closed hydraulic circuit was constructed. The very large flume is used to study different environmental problems such as wastewater ocean outfalls. While there are several studies in the literature on nonbuoyant and buoyant jets and their interaction with currents, few deal with jet-wave interaction. Most studies emphasize the importance of a wave flow field in diffusion processes and the need for experimental tests to better understand jet-wave interaction dynamics and possibly confirm the validity of proposed mathematical models.
A problem investigated in the very large flume is the effect of corrugated and vegetated channel beds on buoyant or non-buoyant turbulent jets, vertically discharged into a crossflow. The main aim of this research is to study the background turbulence, generated by corrugated or vegetated channel bed surfaces, which affect the jet behavior (i.e., jet penetration, spreading, mixing performance, turbulent structures).

4.    Positive and negative buoyant jet systems
A physical model for the study of buoyant jets was constructed a the LIC. The channel flow permits to simulate sea currents interacting with buoyant jets issued in the same channel through diffusers with different number of nozzles. This channel includes a buoyant jet thermal-hydraulic system. The discharged heated water generating the turbulent buoyant jet is pumped into the channel through a steel tube mounted at the bottom of the channel in the central longitudinal section.

 
The LIC has many advanced equipment and instrumentation for morphological and hydraulics analysis, such as: bottom propellers, Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV), Vessel-Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (VM-ACP), micro whirls flow meters, pressure gauges, bottom profiler, densimeter, ultrasonic wave height meter, high-precision GPS transceivers, spectrometer, LDA (Laser Doppler Anemometer) system, laser scanner, drone

 In addition to the specific pieces of equipment and instrumentation discussed above, the laboratory is also equipped with software and data acquisition systems for the study of the wave climate hindcasting and forecasting, wave propagation, storm and swell activity inside harbors, solid transport, beach evolution, circulation currents and pollutant diffusion. For the field sea monitoring the LIC has installed a system in the Canale Navigabile of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Italy) for the monitoring of sea currents and waves. Another system has been installed has installed in the Mar Grande of Taranto (Italy) for the monitoring of sea currents, waves, water quality and weather. 
    
    The LIC staff includes many researchers, technicians and students whose work makes the laboratory a reference point in the field of Hydraulics, Maritime and Environmental Hydraulics. The LIC promotes relationships and cooperation with international universities and research institutions.

For further details, please see the following websites:

1)    http://www.michelemossa.it/sottopag.php?id=2&id_pag=15 
2)    http://www.poliba.it/lic (in Italian; an English version will be available soon)
3)    www.iahrmedialibrary.net 
4)    www.michelemossa.it/stazionemeteo.php 
5)    www.michelemossa.it/stazionemeteo2.php