Woods Hole Group designed and implemented a comprehensive program to quantify the estuarine processes in the Delaware River estuary.  A 3-dimensional hydrodynamic numerical model was utilized to evaluate the engineering alternatives for preventing detritus from interfering with the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants cooling water intakes.  The project included a comprehensive field data collection program in support of the numerical modeling.

The sensor suites used were the most technologically advanced and proven sensors; they included electromagnetic and acoustic Doppler current meters, tide gauges, CHIRP sonars for biological monitoring, salinity and temperature gauges, and real-time atmospheric monitoring.  The field data were collected as shipboard observations, in-situ measurements, and real-time data acquisition and telemetry.  These data were obtained over a five-month period from May through September 1995.  This project represents the most comprehensive process oriented data collection effort in the upper Delaware River estuary completed to date. The purpose of the field data collection as to characterize the physical processes in the Delaware River, including the general circulation patterns in the vicinity of the nuclear generation facilities and the specific circulation patterns in and near the intake basin and the discharge structures.

The acquired data were used to prescribe the boundary conditions for the numerical modeling and to allow independent verification of the fidelity of the modeling.  The results of the 3-dimensional modeling were provided as an engineering tool to address operational requirements for detritus removal at the intake structures of the nuclear generating stations.