Technical Seminar on Shoreline Management 2003

EMERGENCY MEASURES IN COASTAL PROTECTION –

METHODS AND PERFORMANCE

Ir. Nor Hisham Bin Mohd. Ghazali*, MIEM, P. Eng. & Arman Bin Mokhtar**

*Senior Engineer, Erosion Control Unit, Coastal Engineering Division, DID

**Engineer, Erosion Control Unit, Coastal Engineering Division, DID

Address: Coastal Engineering Division, Department Of Irrigation and Drainage

Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, 50626 Kuala Lumpur

Keywords: coastal engineering, coastal erosion, coastal protection

Paper from Proceedings of Technical Seminar on Shoreline Management.

18-19 August 2003, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Coastal and Offshore
Engneering Institute, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia; pp. 11-1-1 to 11-1-
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INTRODUCTION

Coastal erosion is seldom a public issue if it does not affect property or infrastructure. Hence,
when a stretch of shoreline is affected by erosion, the local authorities, in planning the necessary
action, considers the remaining buffer area between the waterline and the development or
human interests behind the backshore. Unfortunately, on shorelines fronting highly developed
hinterland areas, there are sometimes insufficient development setback and existing
infrastructure or amenities become immediately threatened when erosion occurs. In such cases,
the local branches of the national coastal protection authority, the Department of Irrigation and
Drainage (DID) are usually pressed to act immediately to protect the effected shorelines.
Although the erosion could be a seasonal incident, a do-nothing strategy would be unacceptable
in view of the imminent threat to properties. Furthermore, there is usually neither the time nor
the funds to design and build a proper revetment. The only cause of action would be to begin
emergency protection works.

Over the years, the DID branch offices along the Malaysian coast have built many emergency
protection schemes to combat erosion. These schemes are done as a temporary measure while
awaiting an engineered solution to the erosion problem. This paper describes the emergency

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coastal protection methods that have been implemented along some stretches of Malaysia’s
coasts. The cases cited herein were drawn from the experience of DID personnel from several
coastal district offices. The options, strengths, weaknesses and performance of emergency
methods are examined together with their cost implications.

EROSION AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES

An eroding shoreline is one that experiences a loss of material from the beach or shoreline over
a period of time. In some areas, the necessary development setback has been provided thereby
allowing enough time for either one of two things to happen – (i) the restoration of the beach by
natural processes or; (ii) the planning and construction of a coastal defence solution if the
erosion persists. The Department of Irrigation and Drainage prescribes a setback of 60 meters
from mean high water for sandy coasts and 400 metres from the seaward edge of mangrove
forest for muddy coasts 1 . When adhered to, this setback distance is usually sufficient as a
buffer to protect coastal hinterland development against erosion since the highest rate of erosion
for Malaysian shorelines is 10 to 15 metres per year 2 .

Erosion incidents are duly recorded by the local DID office and reported to the Coastal
Engineering Division, DID Headquarters for further action. The Coastal Engineering Division
investigates the situation and categorizes the sites based on the erosion classification scheme
established by the National Coastal Erosion Study 3 . Eroding shorelines with potentially serious
economic implications will either be classified as “Category 1 – critical” for which immediate
action is necessary; or “Category 2 – significant” where properties would be threatened within
the next few years if the shoreline remains unprotected. Eroding areas with minimal threat to
socio-economic assets or activities are classified as “Category 3”. These are then submitted to
the National Coastal Erosion Council for endorsement. Solutions for the Category 1 areas are
then formulated and application for funding is made to the government. In the meantime, the
general course of action would be to:

• construct emergency protection works and;

• conduct survey and site investigation works for future permanent coastal protection scheme.

The purpose of an emergency coastal protection work is primarily to prevent or reduce further
loss of erodible material from the effected area, and to delay the erosion process.

LOCAL EROSION PHENOMENA

Waves are higher in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia due to the longer fetch-lengths of the
South China Sea. The west coast is a more protected environment with fetch-lengths limited by
the presence of Sumatera. Though wave heights are smaller here, more erosion incidents occur
here as compared to the east coast. On the west coast, the erosion threat is not only due to the
waves of the south-west monsoon (May to September) but also due to those brought about by
squalls known as the Sumateras which occur throughout the year.

In the bunded, agricultural schemes on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the loss of
mangroves over the years has exposed large stretches of coastal bunds to direct wave attack.

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These can be observed along the coastlines of Selangor (Kuala Selangor to Sabak Bernam),
Perak (Bagan Datoh) and Johor (Muar to Tg. Piai). Most of the totally exposed stretches have
already been protected with revetments. A major problem in these low-lying agricultural areas
is the poor geotechnical properties of the soil. The first 2-metres of soil on the mud beaches
along the Selangor and Perak coasts have undrained shear strengths in the range of 5 kN/m2 to
10 kN/m2. As a result, the crest levels of bunds with revetments could only be built to about
+3.0 metres LSD with a design slope of 3(horizontal):1(vertical) to 4:1 in order to achieve
factors of safety for slope stability (deep-seated failure conditions) in the order of 1.2. The
weak soils also lead to the subsidence of bunds thereby increasing their risk of overtopping.
With this constraint on bund crest heights, even short-duration storms which coincide with
spring tides become a major concern. During the spring tide, water levels along the shoreline at
Rungkup, Bagan Datoh in Perak can reach bund crest levels (estimated at about +2.8 to 3.0
metres LSD) and overtopping incidents have occurred whenever there are accompanying winds
blowing shoreward especially along stretches where bund settlement have occurred 4 . The major
spring tide which occurs annually in or around October with tidal levels of +3.0 metres LSD has
been the cause of numerous overtopping incidents over the years. Over the last decade, this
region has experienced the most cases of bund overtopping and erosion leading to the
construction of many emergency protection schemes.

EMERGENCY PROTECTION WORKS (EPW)

Emergency protection works (EPW) are defined as immediate but temporary solutions to stop
local coastal erosion. They are designed for short to medium life-spans using, and often limited
to, available physical and monetary resources. The key features of an emergency scheme are:
they can be swiftly implemented and, they can delay the rate of erosion for a reasonable amount
of time. In terms of design, an EPW is usually un-engineered and built to the knowledge and
experience of the local engineers and staff. Therefore, there is some uncertainty as to its
expected design-life. EPW can be likened to “plugging a leak” in a pipe while waiting for the
plumber. Invariably, the availability of funds plays a decisive role in determining the type and
extent of the works to be implemented. Emergency works are usually low-cost and, where
possible, lengthy administrative processes inherent with full-scale protection works are avoided.
EPW contracts are best awarded to contractors with local knowledge and who usually have
proven track-records in similar works.

The more common EPW which have been constructed on the Malaysian coast are discussed in
the following paragraphs.

Quarry-stones
Quarry-stones or rip-rap are the most common material used in shore protection. They are
used to protect beach or bund slopes and also to prevent against scour at the toes of seawalls.
Properly graded quarry-stones can protect against the loss of erodible beach material and
withstand wave attack. The engineering design of revetments requires data including beach
profile survey, the incident wave height, strength of the underlying material, and tidal
elevations. Having worked out the design water level, run-up heights can be calculated
following the procedures detailed in the USACE Shore Protection Manual (1984) and the
volume can be calculated from the design cross-section drawings.

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In emergency works, the volume of rocks required is estimated from the stretch of coastline
involved and a typical slope of 2:1 or 3:1. The slope obtained is sometimes more incidental than
planned. The typical rock sizes may range from 300 mm to 800 mm and weigh between 30 kg
to 1000 kg. In the interest of speed, the manageability of the protection material is more
important than the correct size of armour. Large quarry-stones will require large transporters
and would need to be properly placed. Hence, it is more common to see rock sizes of between
300 mm to 600 mm used in emergency works (see Plate 1). Any initial settlement is
compensated by the addition of more rocks.

Although using smaller range of quarry-stones facilitates faster installation, overdoing it with
too high a percentage of the smaller sizes may produce disastrous results (see Plate 2). When
quarry-stones are too small, they are easily displaced by waves. Furthermore, when geotextile
filter cloth is not included to separate the quarry-stones from the bed, there is nothing to prevent
the fines from being sucked out through the armour rock layer as waves break on the revetment.
The common failure of emergency quarry-stone revetments is listed below:

(i) scouring at the toe;

(ii) excessive toe settlement especially on muddy shores;
(iii) displacement of undersized armour rocks by wave action;
(iv) overtopping and erosion of crest leading to slumping of armoured slope

Plate 1: Quarry-stones or quarry-stone – the most common material used in emergency works

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Plate 2: Undersized quarry-stones strewn all over the lower beach during storm

Bakau Pile Walls

In the South-east Asian region, bakau trunks are commonly used as a cheaper alternative to
timber piles in construction. The standard specification for use in construction is 100 mm in
diameter and 3 metres in length. Bakau piles are produced from mangrove trunks which are
harvested from mangrove reserves found along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The
most prominent amongst these reserves is the Larut Matang Forest Reserve in Perak.

Indiscriminate felling of mangroves along the coastline have contributed directly to the
increasing rate of erosion experienced by some stretches of mud coasts notably around
Sekinchan and Sabak Bernam, Selangor. Out of concern for this, the use of bakau piles in
construction has been prohibited by the government following a decision of the National
Development Committee in 1996. It is reported that apart from the local sources, bakau piles for
construction are also imported from Indonesia.

Bakau piles are commonly fashioned as formwork for bund construction. They are fixed
together side-to-side using bolts or long nails to form a wall and braced by attaching more bakau
piles across (see Plate 3). Bakau piles are simple to install and lengths are extended by the use
of sleeves. In the construction of bunds, they are installed in two rows along the proposed
alignment and fill material is placed in between. To protect from being washed out, geotextile
filter cloth is placed between the bakau pile wall and the earthfill. Bakau piles are used in
almost all forms of emergency works whether as a temporary barrier or part of a composite
protection. Without geotextile filter cloth, bakau pile walls alone are ineffective to prevent loss
of beach sediment since they are not impermeable. Bakau pile walls have also been used as
wave breakers on the foreshore area (see Plate 4) with some success. For strength, at least two-
thirds of the bakau pile must be embedded. Insufficient embedding is a common cause for
failure of bakau pile walls as shown in Plate 5.

When completed, a bakau pile wall behaves like any seawall. The vertical face creates
reflecting waves which cause scour at the toe of bakau pile walls. In the revetment works at
Sungai Haji Sirat Phase III (Bagan Sekinchan, Selangor) in 1992, a bund under re-construction
and protected by bakau pile formwork resulted in a loss of almost 1.0 meter at the toe in a week.

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The typical failure mode of bakau pile walls is similar to that as observed of wooden walls in
California 5 where material behind the wall is lost. Wave overtopping causes scour of the crest
while reflected waves scour and undercut the toe. As a result, a cavity forms behind the bakau
pile wall as shown in Plate 6 and 7.

Plate 3: Bakau pile wall protecting backshore on Pulau Besar, Melaka

Plate 4: Timber piles acting as wave barriers

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Plate 5: Bakau pile wall failure due to insufficient embedding

Plate 6: Overtopped bund under construction with bakau pile wall in front of it.

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Plate 7: Bakau pile wall protection failure due to wave overtopping and undercutting

Sand-bags

Sand-bags are commonly used as run-up deflectors or barriers on the backshore (Figure 1).
These bags are of the type used for packing rice or flour and are made of material such as
polypropylene (see Plate 8). For handling convenience, sand-bags are normally half or two
thirds-filled to weigh about 7 to 10 kg. and placed by hand.

Sand-bags have a tendency to degrade quickly when exposed to seawater and sunlight (Plate 9).
They are unable to withstand long-term abrasion against sediment (or mussel shells which are
abundant on some shorelines) and are easily ruptured or punctured by driftwood. Once torn, the
tear easily propagates under normal wave action which also washes out the sandfill.

Sand-bags are usually seen to be stacked in layers of 2 or 3 bags wide when used to protect
escarpment. Although not entirely water-tight, they are able to limit wave run-up. Sand-bag
systems are often strengthened by bakau pile walls to provide better resistance against wave
forces. The bakau pile wall is necessary if the number of sand-bags width-wise is few and the
protection placement is close to or at the mean water line. The effectiveness of sand-bag walls
decrease the lower they are down the beach profile and closer to the mean water line where they
become more susceptible to being torn by driftwood and the direct impact of waves. A typical
bakau pile/sand-bag system is illustrated in Figure 2.

Sand-bags

Wave run-up

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Figure 1: Sand-bags on the back of beach acting as run-up barrier for protection against run-up. The most
critical condition will be during Mean High Water

Bakau pile wall

Sand-bags

MWL

MLW

Figure 2: Schematic drawing of bakau pile and sandbag system used to protect escarpment. If placed within the
range of MLW and MWL, the bags are more exposed to waves and tossed driftwood.

Plate 8: Sand-bags laid to protect escarpment in Labuan.

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Plate 9: Remnants of sand-bags after disintegration (Pulau Besar, Melaka).

Bakau piles and sand-bags systems have been commonly applied on both muddy and sandy
shores with almost identical forms of failures – displacement of the sand-bags under wave
attack and degradation.

The method of placement of sand-bags is important. For flood control, the pyramid placement
method, as shown in Figure 3, is recommended by the US Army Corp of Engineers 6 . This
method anchors the sand-bags into the soil and also provides stability against flow parallel to
the sand-bag wall. The number of sand-bags in local applications is usually nominal and sand-
bags are commonly stacked to three bags wide and as high to face wave forces perpendicular to
its length. Comparing the use of sand-bags locally and with the recommendations of the
USACE, there is a difference as to their usage. Since they degrade easily, sand-bags should
only be used for short-term durations such as prior to a storm warning or flood warning. After
the storm or flood event, they should then be emptied and stored for future use. In local
applications however, the sand-bags are simply left to degrade.

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