EROSION – TRANSPORTATION - DEPOSITION

Factors at work on coasts

There are two different approaches to defend against coastal erosion
and flooding HARD ENGINEERING and SOFT ENGINEERING
 How can we defend our coast against the sea?

• By ~ building sea walls, breakwaters,

harbours, groynes, and reclaiming land will all
affect the amount and rate of erosion and
deposition.

Note wider beach this

side of the groyne.
Sea walls reflect a large
proportion of the wave energy,
Sea Wall- defence &
which can cause further
erosion of the beach and
erosion
ultimately the potential
undermining and collapse of
the wall. They need a lot of
expensive maintenance, but are
useful in protecting coastal
towns and other built up areas.
 Managing a coastline with
Gabions gabions
Gabions are generally galvanised
steel wire mesh baskets filled
with rock (often local flint in
North Norfolk). The size of the
basket vary but they are typically
2m x 1m x 1m and are
rectangular cubes . Gabions are
normally used on eroding cliff
faces where their purpose is two
fold. Firstly they provide stability
to the cliff face, preventing
failure, and secondly they permit
water to drain away that might
otherwise contribute to
landsliding. Gabions are relatively
cheap and easy to construct but
they are not suitable for use in
locations exposed to wave action
because they are too flexible and
are easily destroyed.
 Managing erosion with
Revetments This section is made of wooden slats that
allow the water through, but break up the
wave energy, not reflect it.

•Timber Revetments were first constructed as

cheaper alternative to a solid seawall. The
Revetments are constructed from timber piles
driven into the beach and connected by a
sloping lattice of timber planks.
Sediment gets •The Revetment is designed so that it will
deposited behind the
break the force of the wave without reflecting
revetment to increase
the amount of beach the energy which might cause scouring of the
and so the natural beach. A Timber Revetment reduces the wave
defense for the energy available to attack the cliffs but it
cliffs. This has been does not prevent erosion from taking place.
use effectively on the
cliffs below the BP •In addition, sediment, which can be sand,
terminal at Easington shingle or pebbles, is carried through or over
the revetment structure by an incoming wave.
However, the sediment cannot easily return
seaward once the force of the wave has been
dissipated. This action results in a build up of
material behind the revetment and the
increased depth of material protects the foot
of the cliff from being attacked by the sea.
 Photo of revetments

The wooden slats can

be clearly seen here.
 The result of using revetments.

New beach has clearly been deposited Groynes have

here, eventually adding protection to also been used.
the cliffs behind. Once this becomes
stabilised with plants it will be even
better.
 Managing erosion with Rock Armour
• Rock or rock armour has become increasingly
important in coastal defence works over the
last 20 years or so. The rock used will
typically be a very hard igneous rock that is
exceedingly resistant to erosion. When rock
is placed on the beach it is arranged so that
large void spaces are left. When waves hit
the rock they are only partially reflected,
and can flow round the rocks, expending
their energy less quickly which reduces
scour. Another advantage of using rock is
that if the rocks are moved during heavy
storms it is a simple procedure to replace
them in the correct position.
• Rock armour is often used to protect the
base of seawalls and prevents direct attack
and damage of the wall. Additionally the
rock provides support for the wall, improving
its stability.
 Rock Armour

• Sheringham Beach. Both rock

groynes and rock armour can clearly
be seen.
 Beach Nourishment
• A beach is the perfect defence against wave action and,
if a beach is poor, one option may be to undertake beach
nourishment.
• This basically involves adding large quantities of material
to a beach in order to build it up. The material added
will need to be very similar to the material naturally
found on the beach and will probably come from remote
sources.
• Offshore dredging can provide a good source of suitable
material for beach nourishment schemes or alternatively
the sediment can be obtained from land based quarries.
Beach management structures eg: groynes, may also be
necessary to ensure the extra material remains on the
beach, and even so some will probably be lost through
the natural movement of coastal sediments. This may
mean further nourishment is required in the future to
keep the beaches at the desired level.
Beach Nourishment
Beach Nourishment
Managing Longshore Drift
 Evidence of
Longshore Drift on
the Holderness Coast

Direction of
FETCH is
quite clear.
Managing Longshore Drift
 Groynes
• The purpose of a groyne is to create and maintain a healthy
beach on its updrift side, which in turn provides protection to
the land behind. This is achieved through two main processes.
• Firstly, groynes act as a barrier to physically stop sediment
transport (sand) in the direction of longshore drift. This causes
a build-up of the beach on the groyne's updrift side. Secondly,
groynes interrupt the tidal flow forcing the tidal current
further offshore beyond the groyne end. This slows the tidal
current inshore causing the deposition of heavier sediments and
encouraging the beach to grow in size.
• Obviously, if a groyne is stopping material from moving along
the coast then the down-drift side of the groyne will be
starved of material (which is why it is usually lower than the
up-drift side). If a groyne is correctly designed then there will
be a limit to the amount of material it can hold and excess
sediment is free to move on through the system. However, if a
groyne is too large it may trap all sediment reaching it and this
can cause severe beach erosion problems on the down-drift
side, which in turn can result in cliff erosion problems.
 Permeable groynes

In an attempt to prevent problems with down-drift

starvation, a series of groynes were designed on the
basis that they would be "permeable" and instead of
trapping the total amount of sediment they would allow
some to pass through.
Easington BP terminal seriously under threat from
erosion – in need of coastal protection
Sea defenses at Withersea, Holderness
The rock groyne and armour at Mappleton
The effect of the rock groyne at Mappleton

Fetch

The impact of the groyne is

clear. New beach to the
North and cliff erosion to
the South
Cliff Erosion at
Happisburgh, Norfolk
1986
1997
1999
2001
Impact of Sea Level Change