In recent years, severe scour at the Kingston ferry terminal in Washington state has caused concern for terminal safety, as underwater erosion has caused an undersea cliff face to migrate shoreward toward the onshore ferry trestle structure. This project investigated the role of ferry-generated turbulence in causing the erosion by characterizing the ferry vessel wake and wash structure and by developing a model to better predict seabed stress at ferry terminals caused by propeller wash.

The Washington State Ferry (WSF) System’s Triangle Route is heavily used and experiences a number of significant operational challenges. To improve operation of the Triangle Route, WSF would like to identify and evaluate operational concepts for the route that would not only improve ferry service performance but that could be implemented within the budget constraints of the agency. After analysis of several options, the researchers recommended three operational concepts for further exploration.