Assessment of inhomogeneity in environmental conditions in a Norwegian fjord for design of floating bridges

Environmental conditions along a very large floating bridge are inhomogeneous due to complex topography and hydrography. Evaluating the inhomogeneity in environment conditions is important for safety design of floating bridges but challenging because of their large size. This study addresses the assessment of long-term spatial inhomogeneity in wind and wave parameters for environmental conditions in a Norwegian fjord for design of floating bridges based on 16-year hindcast data. The wind and wave data are numerically simulated by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and Simulating Waves Nearshore (SWAN) model, respectively. The accuracy of hindcast wave data is validated by comparison against field measurements. Inhomogeneity in wind and wave parameters are revealed by contour maps by considering two dominant wave directions. Significant wave height and peak period are fairly close in the south part and decrease gradually towards the north end. Mean wave direction decreases from south end to north end. Mean wind speed has a relatively small variation in the south part and a great variation in the north part, so do the mean wind direction. Correlation of wind and wave parameters along a potential bridge route is analyzed. Wind parameters are less correlated than the wave parameters.