Hard Engineering
- Coastal management is essential to build resilience in coastal communities around the world
- Climate change, increase tropical storm intensity, more frequent storm surges and sea level change are increasing the rates of coastal erosion and flooding
- These hazards need to be adapted to, as they are already happening in many places
- Preventing coastal erosion through hard engineering is generally effective but it is very expensive
- Hard engineering can also often be unsightly
- There are lots of different hard engineering strategies, to decide which is most appropriate in a particular area a cost benefit analysis must be carried out
- Some areas are left with no protection because the costs are deemed to outweigh the benefits
Structure |
How it works |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Groynes |
Structures built perpendicular (at right angles) to the shore. Sediment is trapped as it is transported by longshore drift. The beach builds up which absorbs wave energy |
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Sea Walls |
Walls with a curved or stepped surface that absorb and reflect wave energy |
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Rip Rap/ Rock armour |
Large concrete or granite boulders at the foot of a cliff. The spaces in between the boulders cause waves to bounce between many surfaces, reducing the energy of the wave |
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Revetments |
A sloped or ramp like structure that breaks up wave energy |
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Offshore Breakwater |
Rock barrier a little out to sea from the shoreline. This breaks the waves and dissipates their energy before they reach the coast. |
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