Coastal management strategies

Question 1

Hard engineering

Answer 1

Man-made structures built to control the flow of the sea and reduce flooding and erosion.

Question 2

Soft engineering

Answer 2

Schemes set up using knowledge of the sea and its processes to reduce the effects of flooding and erosion.

Question 3

Sea wall

Answer 3

A wall made of concentrate to reflects waves back to sea.

Creates strong backwash which erodes under the wall. It is very expensive to build and maintain.

Question 4

Gabions

Answer 4

A wall of wire cages filled with rocks. It absorb wave energy and reduce erosion. They are chap and easy to build.
They are ugly and need to be repaired regularly.

Question 5

Groynes

Answer 5

Fences that are build at right angles to the coast. They trap material transported by longshore drift. Creates wider beaches which slow the waves. This gives greater protection from flooding and erosion. It is cheap to build.
Increase the erosion further down the cost, since all material is trapped by groynes.

Question 6

Beach nourishment

Answer 6

Sand and shingles from sea bed or elsewhere are added to the upper part of beaches. It creates a wider beaches which slow the waves.
Taking material from the sea bed kill organisms. It is very expensive defense and has to be repeated.

Question 7

Dune regeneration

Answer 7

Creating or restoring sand dunes by nourishment or by planting vegetation to stabilize the sand. Provides barrier between land and sea, so land is not flooded.
Very expensive and the protection is limited to a small area.

Question 8

Managed retreat/coastal realignment

Answer 8

Involves removing current defenses and allowing the sea to flood the land behind. Over time the land will become a marshland, which protects the land from flooding and erosion.
Easy and cheap but requires a lot of space.