Soft engineering strategies

Question 1

what is beach nourishment?

Answer 1

the addition of sand or pebbles to an existing beach to make it higher or wider

Question 2

what are the advantages of beach nourishment?

Answer 2

• relatively cheap and easy to maintain
• looks natural and blends into existing beach
• increases tourist potential as bigger beach

Question 3

what are the disadvantages of beach nourishment?

Answer 3

-LSD might deplete the beach

Question 4

what is dune regeneration?

Answer 4

marram grass can be planted to stablise sand dunes and help them become re-established

Question 5

what are the advantages of dune regeneration?

Answer 5

• maintains a natural coastal environment
• provides an important wildlife habitat
• relitively cheap and sustainable

Question 6

what are the disadvantages of dune regeneration?

Answer 6

• time consuming to plant marram grass and fence off areas

- people do not always respond positively to being banned from areas

Question 7

what is managed retreat?

Answer 7

Areas of the coast are allowed to erode and flood naturally. Usually this will be areas considered to be of low value - eg places not being used for housing or farmland.

Question 8

what are the advantages of managed retreat?

Answer 8

-cheap
-provides as buffer to powerful waves creating a
natural defence
-creates an important wildlife habitat

Question 9

what are the disadvantages of managed retreat?

Answer 9

• agricultural land is lost

- farmers or landowners need to be compensated

Question 10

what is land use management?

Answer 10

even if some areas will eventually be eroded or flooded land use management can minimize the impact

Question 11

what are the advantages of land use management?

Answer 11

-an appropriate approach to coastal management that is essentially sustainable

Question 12

what are the disadvantages of land use management?

Answer 12

• some people might not want to have land uses restricted to the coast
• difficult to implement
• only works if local residents agree

Question 13

what is do nothing?

Answer 13

just ignore the effects of flooding and erosion

this is generally what is done in areas which are deemed to be low value or dont have alot of people living there

Question 14

what are the advantages of do nothing?

Answer 14

• easy
• free/cheap
• eroded material from the river is deposited on the floodplain making it more fertile

Question 15

what are the disadvantages of do nothing?

Answer 15

the risk of flooding and impacts of flooding are not reduced

Question 16

what are the arguments for soft engineering?

Answer 16

• the beach can absorb wave energy acting as a natural defence
• work with the environment
• attractive
• 25% cheaper than hard engineering
• cost of maintenance is not as high

Question 17

what are the arguments against soft engineering?

Answer 17

• beach takes up more space than a hard engineering scheme
• short-term loss of land
• beaches have to be replenished every 10 years
• not effective is wrong type of sediment is used
• if material is dredged from the sea bed in order to replenish a beach, this can cause wave refraction at that point and a change in the natural current