Abstract
Optimization theory is applied to a coastal engineering problem that is the design of a port. This approach was applied to the redesign of La Turballe port in order to increase the exploitable surface area and simultaneously reduce the occurrence of long waves within the port. Having defined the cost function as a weighted function of wave amplitude and with the chosen parameterization of the port, results show that an extended jetty and a widened mole yield a unique optimal solution. This work demonstrates that numerical optimization may be quick and efficient in the identification of port solutions consistent with classic engineering even in the context of complex problems.