What are the advantage and disadvantages of hard and soft engineering Flashcards
Give some hard engineering
- Sea walls
- Groynes
- Rip Rap
- Gabions
Give some Soft engineering
- Beach nourishment
- Managed retreat
What are sea walls?
Concrete walls designed to reflect the energy of the wave
What are Groynes?
Wooden barriers built down a beach and trap sand to stop transportation
What are Gabions?
Steel mesh cages, containing boulders, absorb energy of the waves
What is beach nourishment?
Beach material is replaced by sand. Dredged from the seabed
What is Managed retreat?
Areas of the coast are allowed to erode and flood naturally.
What are the advantages of hard engineering?
- Very effective
- Last a long time
What are the disadvantages of hard engineering?
- Ugly
- Expensive
- Pollution (Concrete)
What are the advantages of soft engineering?
- Little impact
- Quick to install
- Cheap
What are the disadvantages of soft engineering?
- Easily eroded by the waves
- Not very successful
What place has sea walls and beach replenishment?
- Cancun, Mexico
What place does managed retreat?
- Wallasea, Essex
