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409
 ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS FOR COASTAL PROTECTIONAN OVERVIEW
 
Krystian W. PILARCZYK Rykswaterstaat, Hydraulic Engineering InstituteP.O. Box 5044, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands, Tel. +31-15-2518427, Fax +31-15-2518555E-mail: k.w.pilarczyk@dww.rws.minvenw.nl; k.pilarczyk@planet.nl
Abstract:
This contribution presents an overview of the various available methods for shorestabilization and beach erosion control, with special emphasis on the alternative solutions andnovel materials and systems in various design implementations. Within alternative systemsspecial attention is paid to artificial reefs. Novel systems as geosystems (geotubes, geocontainers,geocurtains) and some other (often patented) systems have gained popularity in recent years because of their simplicity in placement, cost effectiveness and environmental aspects.
Key words:
Low-crested structures, Artificial reefs, Wave transmission, Design
1. INTRODUCTION
Coastal users and managers all over the world are frequently faced with serious erosion of their sandy coasts. Possible causes of erosion include natural processes (i.e. action of waves,tides, currents, sea level rise, etc.) and sediment deficit due to human impact (i.e. sand miningand coastal engineering works). Countermeasures for beach erosion control function dependon local conditions of shore and beach, coastal climate and sediment transport. Continuousmaintenance and improvement of the coastlines, together with monitoring and studies of coastal processes have yielded considerable experience on various coastal protectionmeasures all over the world.In general, a coastal structure is planned as a practical measure to solve an identified problem. Starting with identification of the problem (e.g. shoreline erosion), a number of stages can be distinguished in the design process for a structure: definition of functions,determination of boundary conditions, creating alternatives, geometrical design and the finalchoice of functional solution. After the choice of functional solution has been made thestructural design starts including creating structural alternatives (ie. using different materialsand various execution methods). The final choice will be made after verification of variousstructural solutions in respect to the functional, environmental and economic criteria.The present overview provides information on some available methods for shorestabilization and beach erosion control, with special emphasis on the alternative solutions andnovel materials and systems in design implementations.
2. ALTERNATIVE SYSTEMS FOR COASTAL PROTECTION2.1 GENERAL
Various structures/systems can be of use in coastal and shoreline structures, fromtraditional rubble and/or concrete systems to more novel systems as geotextile, gabions, patented systems and others. However, there is a growing interest both in developed and indeveloping countries in low cost or novel methods of shoreline protection particularly as thecapital cost of defence works and their maintenance continues to rise. The shortage of natural
International Conference on Estuaries and CoastsNovember 9-11, 2003, Hangzhou, China
 
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rock in certain geographical regions can also be a reason for looking to other materials andsystems. Despite this interest there is little published and documented information about the performance of low cost or patented structures especially at more exposed wave climate.Below, an overview is given of the various available methods for shore stabilization and beach erosion control, with special emphasis on the alternative solutions and novel materialsand systems in various design implementations. Within alternative systems special attention is paid to artificial reefs of various design. Novel systems as geosystems (geotubes,geocontainers, geocurtains) and some other (often patented) systems (Reef Balls, Aquareef, beach drainage, etc) have gained popularity in recent years because of their simplicity in placement and constructability, cost effectiveness and their minimum impact on theenvironment. An overview is given on design and application of the existing novel systems incoastal engineeringThe geotextile systems as bags, mattresses, tubes and containers filled with sand or mortar,and artificial seaweed or geotextile curtains, can be a good and mostly cheaper alternative for more traditional materials/systems as rock, concrete units or asphalt. These new systems wereapplied successfully in number of countries and they deserve to be applied on a larger scale.Because of the lower price and easier execution these systems can be a good alternative for coastal protection and coastal structures in developing countries. The main obstacle in their application is however the lack of proper design criteria. An overview is given on applicationof the existing novel systems and reference is made to the design criteria. The details on thesesystems can be found in Pilarczyk and Zeidler (1996) and Pilarczyk (2000).
Fig. 1
Examples of low-crested structures
Fig. 2
Objectives of artificial reefs
2.2 ARTIFICIAL REEFS AND EXAMPLES
Wave climate, in combination with currents, tides and storm surges, is the main cause of coastal erosion problems. Various coastal structures can be applied to solve, or at least, toreduce these problems. They can provide direct protection (breakwaters, seawalls, dikes) or indirect protection (offshore breakwaters of various designs), thus reducing the hydraulic loadon the coast (Fig. 1). Low crested and submerged structures (LCS) as detached breakwatersand artificial reefs are becoming very common coastal protection measures (used alone or incombination with artificial sand nourishment) (Pilarczyk, 2003).
 
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Their purpose is to reduce the hydraulic loading to a required level allowing for a dynamicequilibrium of the shoreline. To obtain this goal, they are designed to allow the transmissionof a certain amount of wave energy over the structure in terms of overtopping andtransmission through the porous structure (emerged breakwaters) or wave breaking andenergy dissipation on shallow crest (submerged structures). Due to aesthetical requirementslow freeboards are usually preferred (freeboard around SWL or below). However, in tidalenvironment and frequent storm surges they become less effective when design as a narrow-crested structures. That is also the reason that broad-crested submerged breakwaters (calledalso, artificial reefs) became popular, especially in Japan (Fig. 2 and 3). However, broad-crested structures are much more expensive and their use should be supported by a proper cost-benefit studies. On the other hand the development in alternative materials and systems,for example, the use of sand-filled geotubes as a core of such structures, can reduceeffectively the cost (Pilarczyk, 2000, 2003).
Fig. 3
Example of Aquareef 
Fig. 4
Example of Reef Balls units
The relatively new innovative coastal solution is to use artificial reef structures called “Reef Balls” as submerged breakwaters, providing both wave attenuation for shoreline erosionabatement, and artificial reef structures for habitat enhancement. An example of thistechnology using patented Reef Ball
TM
is shown in Fig. 4.Reef Balls are mound-shaped concrete artificial reef modules that mimic natural coralheads (Barber, 1999). The modules have holes of many different sizes in them to providehabitat for many types of marine life. They are engineered to be simple to make and deployand are unique in that they can be floated to their drop site behind any boat by utilizing aninternal, inflatable bladder. Stability criteria for these units were determined based onanalytical and experimental studies. Some technical design aspects are treated in publications by Harris, mentioned in references, which can be found on the website. Worldwide a large
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