Hydrodynamic Behavior and the Effects of Water Pollution from Dalian’s Large-Scale Offshore Airport Island in Jinzhou Bay, China

China is developing a 21 km(2) artificial island to be used for an offshore airport in Dalian's Jinzhou Bay, Bohai Sea. It is important to study the impacts on the marine environment of such a large-scale reclamation project. In this paper, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model and an advection-diffusion water quality model are implemented to study the effects of the reclamation on the hydrodynamic behavior and pollution levels in Jinzhou Bay. Data from field observations performed in 2009 are used to calibrate and validate the models. The numerical models are also further validated by the hydrodynamic responses to a partial construction in 2012. Finally, the simulated results for the proposed full construction indicate that the creation of the offshore artificial island will greatly influence the near-field hydrodynamic characteristics. A mass of suspended sediments will be discharged, causing approximately 4: 05 km(2) of seawater pollution. The conclusions of this study provide an important foundation for the Dalian offshore airport program, and they can be used as a reference for similar coastal engineering and marine environment protection programs. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.