Coastal management notes

1. Types of approaches
a. Hard approach
i. The construction of physical structures to defend against the
erosive power of waves.
1. Hard engineering measures
a. Seawalls
i. They are built along the coast to absorb the
energy of waves before they can cause
erosion.
ii. They can be made of concrete, rocks, or
wood
iii. They are especially effective on protecting
cliffs from erosion
iv. However, they cannot prevent the backlash
of the refracted waves from washing away
beach materials beneath the walls.
v. This undermines the base of the seawalls
until they collapse.
vi. Seawalls are costly to build and maintain
b. Breakwaters
i. It can be built with one and attached to the
coast or away from the coast
ii. They break the fore of high energy waves
before they reach the shore
iii. When constructed offshore, it can create a
zone of calm water behind them and allow
deposition to occur, forming beaches
iv. Materials deposited behind the breakwater
are protected but the zone located away
from the breakwater is not.
v. It will not receive new supplies of materials
and it will get eroded away.
c. Groynes
i. They are built at right angles to the shore to
prevent longshore drift.
ii. They absorb or reduce the energy of waves
and cause materials to be deposited on the
side of the groyne facing the longshore drift
iii. However, erosion can occur at places not
protected by it
d. Gabions
i. They are wired cages filled with crushed
rocks
ii. They are piled up along the shore to prevent
or reduce coastal erosion by weakening wave
energy
iii. It offers short term protection

iv. The cage requires regular maintenance and

are easily corroded by sea water, trampling
and vandalism.
v. If not properly maintained, the wire baskets
can be unsightly and dangerous along the
beaches
b. Soft engineering
i. Focusing on planning and management so that both coastal
areas and properties wont be damaged by erosion
ii. Aims at changing individual behavior or attitudes towards
coastal protection by encouraging minimal human interference
1. Soft engineering approach
a. Beach nourishment
i. The constant replenishment of large
quantities of sand to a beach system
ii. The beach is extended seawards, which
leads to the improvement of beach quality
and storm protection
iii. It is costly to transport large quantities of
sand to fill up the beach and sufficient sand
is needed
iv. Sanding being eroded and transported away
by waves and wind and can affect wildlife
b. Relocation of properties
i. No building of properties is allowed in coastal
areas vulnerable to coastal erosion.
ii. The east coast of English has green line
policy that discourage building located
beyond it
iii. With the danger of increasing sea levels due
to global warming, relocating is important to
future coastal management
c. Planting of mangroves
i. Mangroves with their prop roots help trap
sediments and reduce coastal erosion
ii. As mangrove communities grow seawards,
they extend the coastal land seawards
d. Stabilizing dunes
i. Access points to the beach should be
controlled and designated so as not to be
distributed by human traffic
ii. Shrubs and trees can be planted to stabilize
them. Roots of the trees reach downwards to
tap ground water and anchor the sand in
place
e. Growth of coral reefs

i. Artificial reefs can be created by placing

environmentally friendly and long lived
materials like steel or coral on the sea floor
ii. Once the material is put in place, living
organisms start to grow on it
iii. Manmade reefs are as productive as natural
reefs in enhancing fishing opportunities and
serve as an undersea barrier to reduce wave
energy.