Improvement study for the Parachique tidal inlet: Fid-Bau Portal

Improvement study for the Parachique tidal inlet

Moor, Ronald

Abstract A fishing village became established at Parachique due to the nearness of good fishing areas and natural protection against wave action, offered by the tidal inlet. Not until after Peru's Ministry of Fisheries improved the infrastructure (quaywall, fish reception terminal, iceplants, cold stores, travel lift, etc.), were the problems often found at unstable tidal inlet's observed, i.e.: location instability of the entrance and a shallow access channel. Under a Dutch Technical Cooperation programme, the Engineering Services Office of the Ministry of Fisheries carried out an extensive field survey to determine the natural process of the tidal inlet and a study for possible improvements. The survey included detailed bathymetrics outside and inside the tidal inlet, float measurements, current measurements to calculate the flow rate and simultaneous tide registration at several locations, to enable reproduction of the tidal wave propagation in a mathematical model, in order to study the effect of several possible changes. This paper summarizes the most important aspects of the study, in which two alternative solutions emerged as technically feasible, both solutions involving jetties and a sand by-passing arrangement.