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A sequence of laboratory experiments using solitary waves was performed to model the effect of leading form of three types of tsunamis (a bore, an impinging wave and an overtopping wave) on a seawall on a sloping beach. The wave evolution process, impinging pressure along the seawall surface, total overtopping discharge behind the seawall and the maximum run-up height on the rear slope were measured and compared. Laboratory data were employed to re-examine relevant empirical formulae in the literature. The effect of the presence of the seawall in reducing maximum run-up height using the present setup was briefly discussed. The present data can be used for calibrating numerical and mathematical models.

The evolution and run-up of breaking solitary waves on plane beaches are investigated in this paper. A series of large-scale experiments were conducted in the SUPER TANK of Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory with three plane beaches of slope 0.05, 0.025 and 0.017 (1:20, 1:40 and 1:60). Solitary waves of which relative wave heights, H/h0, ranged from 0.03 to 0.31 were generated by two types of wave-board displacement trajectory: the ramp-trajectory and the solitary-wave trajectory proposed by Goring (1979). Experimental results show that under the same relative wave height, the waveforms produced by the two generation procedures becomes noticeably different as the waves propagate prior to the breaking point. Meanwhile, under the same relative wave height, the larger the constant water depth is, the larger the dimensionless run-up heights would be. Scale effects associated with the breaking process are discussed.