Abstract
The invention relates to a Surf Pool wherein a portion of the beach is provided with a wave catch basin. With the wave catch basin extending along the length of the beach, the wave catch basin will allow water to go over an infinity edge and settle in the wave catch basin, wherein wave energy backflows are eliminated and rip currents are avoided. With the wave catch basin extending along the beach side of the surf pool, the water that is collected in the wave catch basin and by pumping water out of pipe fittings or creating positive suction into pipe fittings, alters the flow of the rip current, thereby altering the wave formation characteristics. As the rip currents enter the rip current flow channels on both sides of the surfing reef, water can be suctioned down through return pipes or pumped in any direction along the surf pool bottom to stop the rip currents in the rip current flow channels, which helps the breaking waves from becoming distorted as they break.
Claims
1. A surf pool comprising of a wave dampening rip current mitigation system including of at least one rip current flow channel down a middle of an artificial surfing reef and, wherein a rip flow channel minimizes a rip currents at a wave breaking zones located on a sides of an artificial surfing reef and, wherein a rip current flow channel has different contoured slopes, widths and depths to decrease or increase rip current speeds and, wherein a rip current flow channel in a middle of an artificial surfing reef ranges from 5 meters to 15 meters in width and, wherein a rip current flow channel along a sides of an artificial surfing reef is 1 to 5 meters wide and 1 meter deep and, wherein a rip current flow channel in a middle of an artificial surfing reef has an internal slope of 1/1 to 1/3 and, wherein an artificial surfing reef has different internal reef angles from 25 degrees to 70 degrees to decrease the rip current energy in a wave breaking zones. wherein a rip current flow channels divert a rip currents outside of a wave breaking zones.
2. (canceled)
3. (canceled)
4. A surf pool as recited in claim 1, further comprising a wave catch basin and, wherein a return flow channel is connected to each side of a wave catch basin and, wherein the water collected in a wave catch basin is returned to the rear of the surf pool to maintain equilibrium in the surf pool.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0080] FIG. 1. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with an artificial surf reef, thin solid lines donate depth contours, dashed lines donate breaker line and the thick arrows denote the wave ride of a surfer.
[0081] FIG. 2. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with bathymetry of the surf reef where solid lines donate depth contours, white vertical arrows donate the feeder, white diagonal arrows denote the alongshore current and the black diagonal arrows denote the rip current directions and strengths.
[0082] FIG. 3. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with bathymetry of the surf reef where solid lines donate depth contours, white vertical arrows donate the feeder current, white diagonal arrows denote the alongshore current and the black diagonal arrows denote the rip current directions and strengths.
[0083] FIG. 4. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with arrows denoting the current directions and magnitudes of the currents, thin solid lines denote the depth contours, the dashed line denotes the breaker line and the thick black lines denote the breaker line without the presences of currents.
[0084] FIG. 5A. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with varying the internal reef slope, step slope on left and mild slope on the right.
[0085] FIG. 5B. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with varying the internal reef angle, small angle left and large angle right.
[0086] FIG. 5C. is a plan view showing an embodiment of the surf pool reef of the present invention with varying the rip channel width, small width left and large width right.
[0087] FIG. 6. Top down view of the surf pool showing flow channels on both sides of surf reef.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0088] FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a conventional surf reef without the middle rip current flow channel down the middle of the reef shown with a breaker line 1. Surfers start their wave ride at 2, the take off, and surf along the breaker line to point 1, the end of the wave ride until the surfer reaches the beach 3. The wave between point 2 and point 1 should break in such a manner that they are considered surfable. In order for an Artificial Surf Reef to produce surfable breakers, it is important to understand the characteristics of such breakers.
[0089] FIG. 2. These alongshore variations in wave set-up are leading to alongshore gradients in the water level in the surf zone. These will produce alongshore directed flows, called the feeder currents 5, of water toward the sides of the reef where the water level is lowest. At these points the feeder currents 5 turn to the rear of the artificial surfing reef 17, as a rip current 7 flowing next to the artificial surfing reef 17. The rip current 7 is shown flowing through the wave breaker zone 30. To explain the appearance of the alongshore current, the artificial surf reef is schematized as a sloping shore with straight and parallel depth contours 4, with waves approaching under an angle. These waves are known to induce an alongshore current 6. This alongshore current can be seen as a feeder current 5, flowing to the side of the reef into side rip current flow channels 8.
[0090] FIG. 3. One of the objectives is to decrease the wave-driven currents which are flowing through the breakers. In this study the middle rip flow channel 9 is included to minimize the rip currents 7 at the sides of the artificial surfing reef 17. This is done by creating a rip-channel 9 in the middle of the reef where surfers do not surf. In the middle rip channel, no wave breaking occurs and the cross-shore set-up gradients in the channel are thus smaller. The alongshore variations 6 in wave set-up produce feeder currents 5 to the channel and to the side currents 7 of the artificial surfing reef. The rip currents at the sides of the reef are therefore expected to decrease.
[0091] FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows how the currents flow over different parts of the reef. The middle arrows denote the feeder currents 5 and the arrows moving diagonal represent the along shore currents 6. The along shore currents 6 and the feeder currents 5 flow to the side of the reefs via rip flow currents 7.
[0092] FIG. 5A. Varying the internal reef slope, steep slope (left) 10 and mild slope (right) 11.
[0093] FIG. 5B. Varying the internal reef angle, small peel angle (left) 12 and large peel angle (right) 13. FIG. 5C. Varying the rip channel width, small width (left) 14 and large width (right) 15.
[0094] The currents over the reef with a middle rip channel 9 smaller width 14 are more stable than the currents over the reef with a larger rip channel width. Therefore, a smaller middle rip flow channel width is optimal. The Artificial Surfing Reef design has an optimal internal reef angle of 60 degrees 12, an internal reef slope of 1:1 10, a rip channel width of 10 meters is optimal and is cut just behind the breaker line at the end of the reef.
[0095] FIG. 6. Demonstrates how the rip current flow channel mitigation system operates. The surf pool shows two reefs in the surf pool, a premier first reef 17 and a secondary inner artificial surfing reef 18. The wave breaks and moves down the reef wave breaking line 30. Once the breaking wave clears the rear of the secondary inner artificial surf reef 17, the rip currents 20 flow to each side of the artificial surf reef. To mitigate the rip currents in the breaking zone 30, flow channels 8 allow the rip current to flow into the flow channel. The solid black arrows 31 represent the rip current flow moving toward the rear end of the surf pool via the flow channels 8, stopping the rip current from distorting the oncoming breaking wave and returning water to the rear of the surf pool. This process restores equilibrium to the surf pool. This process creates a circulation in the surf pool and brings balance back to the wave breaking process in the surf pool. A secondary rip current flow channel 8 is located behind secondary artificial surfing reef 18 and transports the rip current flow back to the rear of the surf pool. The wave swell is generated from the wave generators at 16.
