9.2.1

Management Strategies for Coastal Erosion

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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 wall

  • 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 that are filled with 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.

Coastal Defences - Soft Engineering

Soft engineering strategies aim to reduce the effects of flooding and erosion using our understanding of the sea. Examples of soft engineering strategies include:

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Beach recharge

  • Beach recharge involves moving material to the upper sections of beaches from elsewhere.
    • Slows down waves by widening beaches and so reduces the risk of erosion and flooding.
    • Removing sand and shingle from the seabed threatens certain organisms (e.g. corals). It is also expensive and must be repeated.
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Managed retreat

  • In managed retreat, coastal defences are removed and the sea is allowed to flood the coastline.
    • Eventually, the flooded land will turn into marshland, which will reduce the amount of flooding and erosion experienced by the land behind it.
    • But, conflicts can arise based on which areas are allowed to flood and saltwater can negatively impact current ecosystems.

Jump to other topics

1Geography Skills

2Geology of the UK

3Geography of the World

4Development

5Weather & Climate

6The World of Work

7Natural Resources

8Rivers

9Coasts

10Glaciers

11Tectonics

12Climate Change

13Global Population & Inequality

14Urbanisation

15Ecosystems

16Life in an Emerging Country

17Analysis of Africa

18Analysis of India

19Analysis of the Middle East

20Analysis of Bangladesh

21Analysis of Russia

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