Coastal protection is not always

popular.

It is often very expensive-costing

millions of pesos and construction can
be messy and disruptive.

To be able to Furthermore not everyone agrees that

describe what the coast should be protected.
coastal hard
engineering is
and list some
There are two main methods of
methods. protection; hard engineering and soft
engineering.

Hard engineering involves using

structures made of solid materials such
as steel concrete or rocks. The main
idea is to stop the waves eroding the
coast.
Complete the table by passing the
different types of hard engineering
around the room.

To be able to
explain the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of hard
engineering.
The sea wall is a
concrete barrier along
the coast which absorbs
the energy of the waves.
Some can be curved in
order to deflect the
Sea walls
power arewave.
of the very effective at protecting the
coastline and will prevent erosion, as long as
they are maintained and repaired. The
maintenance and repairing can be very
expensive. The initial cost to build them is
also expensive. They last around 100 years,
however often deflecting the waves can
make the base of the wall weak and
therefore they require constant maintenance
throughout this period. The sea wall also
Groins are wooden
fences or walls made
from piles of rocks built
out into the sea.

They reduce the rate at

which longshore drift
carries material along
the beach by trapping it
on one side. This extra
beach is then able to
protect the coast from
the sea. By preventing Their average life span
the sand from moving is around 30-40 years.
Rip-rap is made from
granite or other hard
rocks. They are placed at
the base of a cliff to
absorb the energy of the
waves but let the water
drain through them.

They also use natural

resources-rocks.

However they still let

water through so some
erosion takes place and
they look environmentally
Gabions are wire cages
filled with boulders,
usually at the rear of
the beach to keep the
beach together. They
protect from waves
and encourage sand
dunes (mounds of sand
with plants) to form.

Gabions are more of a

short term measure as
they are easily
destroyed by the
waves- the cages are
Revetments are a sloping
concrete or wooden defence
facing the sea. They absorb
the waves energy. The
wooden structures also trap
the beach material.

They absorb the waves

energy. The older wooden
structures last about 10 years
and the concentre ones
around 30.

They are less durable than a

sea wall and so may need
Off shore break waters
are built parallel to
the coast, off the
coast from rock.
Waves are forced to
break before they
reach the shore. This
reduces the waves
energy.

They are effective at

reducing the energy of
the waves. As they are
out to sea they do not
spoil the beach.
Using the first part of the lesson, can you
identify the following types of hard
engineering and give one advantage and
disadvantage of each?

Which two forms of hard engineering are

missing?
 And now for the opposite
Soft engineering
 How can coasts be
protected?
Learning objectives:
To develop a greaterSoft engineering
understanding of how the coast can be protected.
To develop a greater knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of soft
engineering.

To be able to To be able to To be able to

describe what explain the justify which
coastal soft advantages and form of
engineering is disadvantages engineering is
and list some of soft the most
examples. engineering. sustainable.
 Task:
In your own Different stakeholders are not always
words can happy with hard engineering along the
you explain coast. It is often felt that it is an
unsustainable method of management.
what soft This is because they often cost a lot of
engineering money, require constant maintenance
is and how and harm the environment.
it is
sustainable Soft engineering methods try to work
with the physical and natural processes
? within an area rather than building
large man made structures to protect
the land from wave attack.
To be able to
describe what One of the most successful ways of
coastal soft
preventing erosion is preserving a wide
engineering is.
gentle sloping beach that can absorb
most of the wave energy. Soft
engineering methods are usually based
Beach replenishment or
beach nourishment is
the process by which
sand is replaced along
the beach.
Replenishing the beach makes the beach
more effective at dispersing the energy of
the waves. It replaces the material lost by
longshore drift.
As it does not prevent longshore drift beach
replenishment has to be continuously carried
out, making it expensive. It is done so
through taking material from the sea bed
and dumping it onto the shore. This involves
the use of a dredger which is noisy and
upsets tourism and kills marine life from the
Beach profiling involves
shaping the beach in a
particular way so that it
absorbs more energy
during storms.

During storms Beach profiling gives

destructive waves tend the beach a
to move the sediment continued natural
down the beach towards look. However using
the sea. This makes the bulldozers along the
cliff vulnerable to wave coast is noisy and
attack and therefore will scare wildlife.
erosion because there is Furthermore the sea
less beach protecting it. constantly changes
Managed retreat involves
allowing the coast to take
back the land, by
removing existing sea
defences and allowing the
land behind them to flood.

Overtime the land will Managed retreat

become marsh land allows land to
allowing habitats to form. flood and become
The marsh land will also eroded and some
act as a natural sea people may not
defence protecting the agree over which
land behind it from land should be
Amarsh land is a
wetland that is
dominated by
herbaceous rather
than woody plant
species.Marshescan
often be found at the
edges of lakes and
streams, where they
form a transition
between the aquatic
and terrestrial
ecosystems. They
are often dominated
by grasses, rushes or
Beach recycling involves
moving material from one
end of the beach where it
has been deposited back
to the other end where is
has been eroded. This
happens three times a
year.

By carrying out beach Putting large

recycling no material is trucks on the
needed to be dredged beach 3 times a
from the sea. Also it year disturbs
ensures that the beach has coastal wildlife and
an even profile and no puts tourists off
coming to the
Encouraging salt marshes
and mudflats means
allowing some parts of the
coast to flood in order to
encourage vegetation to
grow.

Salt marshes and mud flats

help absorb the wave However some
energy which reduces their land is required to
impact on the cliffs. flood and this can
sometimes mean
By allowing small areas of the loss of homes
the coast to flood and and businesses
develop vegetation other depending on the
Beach drainage involves
taking the draining the
excess water from
underneath the beach
using a drain pipe.

By draining the water the

sediment is allowed to dry
and the beach can become
more easily built up. This
sand then acts as a natural
buffer to the waves to
prevent erosion.

However although this is

very natural, drain pipes
Complete the table by passing the
different types of soft engineering
from table to table.

To be able to
explain the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of soft
engineering.
You are part of a local government
for a village that is on the coast. A
sea wall has already been used, and
this has created lots of tension
because it has to be constantly
maintained and has upset the
wildlife. You have been given 5
million pesos to spend.
Question:
Do you repair the sea wall To be able to
for
Think carefully about the sustainability of justify which
another 10 years.
your answer. form of
engineering is
the most
sustainable.
You are part of a local government
for a village that is on the coast. A
sea wall has already been used, but
has recently been damaged beyond
repair by coast erosion. You have
been asked by the City Mayor to
select what you think is:
a) The best hard engineering option
available and;
b) The best soft engineering option
She has asked you to To be able to
available.
consider cost, justify which
form of
effectiveness and engineering is
sustainability when the most
sustainable.
making your decision
 Exam question

Explain why sea level is expected to rise.

Use a case study to describe the economic

effects of coastal flooding.