3.2.12

Coastal Management - Hard Engineering

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Coastal Defences - Hard Engineering

Hard engineering strategies to protect coastlines use man-made constructions to protect the coastline from the sea's erosion and destructive waves. Hard engineering can also be used to stop the sea or rivers from flooding areas. Examples of hard engineering strategies are:

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Sea walls

  • Sea walls are made out of materials that block waves.
  • Making them out of hard rock or materials like concrete means that they are more resilient and last longer.
  • Their shape can be designed to reflect a wave's power back out to sea, instead of being absorbed by the sea wall head-on.
  • Sea walls can protect promenades from flooding and can reduce coastal erosion.
  • Sea walls cost a lot of money and have to be built all along a town's coastline to protect the town.
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Rock armour

  • Rock armour is simply a pile of rocks or boulders.
  • The rocks absorb some of the pressure and energy transferred by waves.
  • Enormous waves can remove the boulders, but they are a very cheap form of coastal protection.
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Gabions

  • Gabions are wire cages full of boulders and rocks.
  • The gabions absorb some of the pressure and energy transferred by waves.
  • This leads to less erosion, but the wire in the cages is corroded over time.
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Groynes

  • Groynes are fences that stick out at 90o to the coast.
  • Groynes stop the process of longshore drift by trapping material against the fence.
  • Groynes create wide beaches, which are better for protecting the coastline from erosion and floods.
  • Building fences is also cheap.

Jump to other topics

1The Challenge of Natural Hazards

1.1Natural Hazards

1.2Tectonic Hazards

1.3Weather Hazards

1.4Climate Change

2The Living World

3Physical Landscapes in the UK

3.1The UK Physical Landscape

3.2Coastal Landscapes in the UK

3.3River Landscapes in the UK

3.4Glacial Landscapes in the UK

4Urban Issues & Challenges

5The Changing Economic World

6The Challenge of Resource Management

6.1Resource Management

6.2Food

6.3Water

6.4Energy

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