10.8 Managing coast - Hard engineering Flashcards
What does managing a coast mean?
➢ To maintain a balance between the forces of nature and th demands of people
What are the 3 types of management strategies for defending the coast?
➢ Hard engineering
➢ Soft engineering
➢ Managed retreat
What is hard engineering?
➢ Using artificial structures such as sea walls to control natural processes
What is soft engineering?
➢ Using natural processes to protect the coast
What is Managed retreat?
➢ Enables controlled retreat of the coastline
What are sea walls?
➢ Concrete or rock barriers against the sea
➢ Often have a curved face to reflect the waves back into the sea
What are the advantages of a sea wall?
➢ Effective at stopping the sea
➢ Has a walkway for people to walk along
What are the disadvantages of a sea wall?
➢ Can look obtrusive and unnatural
➢ Very expensive
➢ High maintenance costs
What are Groynes?
➢ Timber or rock structures built out to sea from the coast
➢ Trap sediment being moved by longshore drift and enlarge the beach
What are the advantages of groynes?
➢ Creates a wider beach - which is popular with tourists
➢ Less expensive then other methods
What are the disadvantages of groynes?
➢ Groynes are unnatural and rock groynes in particular can be viewed as unattractive
➢ This leads to increased rates of erosion elsewhere further along the beach
➢ Shifts the problem rather than solve it
What are the main disadvantages of hard engineering strategies?
➢ Expensive and high maintenance costs
➢ Interfere with natural process - can cause knock-on effects elsewhere
➢ Looks unnatural
What is a Rock armour?
➢ Piles of large boulders dumped at the foot of the cliff
➢ Rocks force waves to break and absorbs the energy and protects the cliffs
What are the advantages of using a rock armour?
➢ Relatively cheap and easy to maintain
➢ Often used for fishing
What are the disadvantages of rock armour?
➢ Often do not fit in with the local geology
➢ Might look unattractive to tourists
