COASTAL PROTECTION MEASURES -- LAWS AND REGULATION

MEASURE (Describe) ADVANTAGES (+Examples) DISADVANTAGES (+Examples)

Limit damaging activities

Damaging activities include:
● Blasting coral reefs to create a
channel for boats
● Clearing mangroves to develop
fish farms
● Less expensive and more efficient than
banning them completely
○ E.g: Fencing of sand dunes and
building access paths to the beach
to prevent people from stepping on
the dunes.
● Look unsightly => less tourists.
● E.g: Though building the fences prevent
people from trampling on the sand dunes,
people cannot access all parts of the
beach

● Dumping waste into coastal

areas/seas

● Constructing facilities (docks,

marinas) that replace the
natural features of the coast

Aim: Limit them from interrupting the

functioning of natural systems.

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Protect Coastal resources
Aim: Protect marine/natural reserves
from being exploited or depleted
● Mark off zones to prevent
commercial fishing
● Local management or
establishment of a marine
reserve
COASTAL PROTECTION MEASURES -- LAWS AND REGULATION
Restrict development in areas prone
to natural hazards
Retreat, or relocation of built structures
away from areas prone to natural
hazards
● E.g: In the USA, the FEMA
steers development away from
areas prone to flooding or
coastal erosion
Avoid
● E.g: Indonesian laws restrict
new farms and residences from
being established on low-lying
● The coast may become a tourist attraction
● The species are able to replenish and breed
● E.g: The Goat Island Marine Reserve is now
a tourist attraction because of its plentiful
fish; there are up to 14 times more snappers
within the reserve than outside it
● Spend less money on construction and
maintenance
● Ensure the safety of people
● E.g: The powerful tsunami in the East Coast
of northern Japan in March 2011 killed over
20,000 people, and the cost of rebuilding has
been estimated at US$300 billion
● Strong opposition from local fishermen
since they saw the reserves as a deterrent
of their valuable access to a food resource
=> Hard to prevent them
● E.g: Fishermen in Wakatobi National park,
Indonesia often target large reef fish and
rapidly destroy the population. Preventing
fishing on these spawning groups is a
considerable challenge
Coasts provide natural resources (food, building
materials) and a substantial range of built services
(docks, ports, housing, recreational facilities)
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 coastal areas

Defence

● Nourishing beaches

● Building seawalls

● Replanting coastal vegetation

● E.g: Beaches in the

Netherlands undergo beach
nourishment when long-term
erosion is identified

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 COASTAL PROTECTION MEASURES -- SOFT ENGINEERING MEASURES

A soft engineering approach involves protecting the coast using natural processes, without the construction of any physical structures

MEASURE (Describe) ADVANTAGES (+Examples) DISADVANTAGES (+Examples)

Beach Nourishment

● Slow down the erosion of beaches ● Trucking/piping in sand can be expensive

Use sand from another beach or
dredged from the seafloor to replenish
the sand on a depleted beach
● Change a coast into a wide, sandy beach
that offers protection to the immediate inland
sea
● E.g: Beach nourishment restored the
depleted beach at the coast of Cape May
Point in New Jersey, USA
● The beaches become aesthetically pleasing
and time-consuming
● Many problems developed
○ Coral reefs at Waikiki Beach have
been destroyed as sand used for
beach nourishment was washed
out to sea and suffocated the
corals
● Renourished beaches can be eroded
again unless there are other management
strategies

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Planting Vegetation and Stabilising
Sand Dunes
● Stabilise coastline ● Vegetation may take a number of years to
be established before it can resist natural
● Anchor the sand elements and human elements
Planting vegetation:
● Prevent erosion ● The costs incurred from maintaining the
● Mangroves absorb wave energy fences and paths
through their dense root system

Stabilising sand dunes:

● Matting is put over the dunes,

and young grasses are planted
into the sand through it

● Over time, the grasses become

established and the dunes
become more stable. The
matting rots away, adding
nutrients to the sand

● Fences and access paths built

to prevent the vegetated dunes
from being disturbed by human
traffic

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Encouraging coral reef growth
Artificial reefs can be created by placing
lasting materials (steel, concrete) onto
the sea floor. Corals, marine creatures
and vegetation colonise these materials
and start to function as a natural reef.
E.g: In the waters of Palau in the
northern Pacific Ocean, sunken ships
from WWII have been naturally
colonised by corals.
● Corals grow faster ● Sites need to be surveyed to ensure
maximum opportunity for growth
● E.g: Since 1996, Maldives has been
operating a coral-growing programme to help ● Coral growth may be slow, taking perhaps
curb severe beach erosion on its many over 20-30 years before results appear,
islands. A structure of welded construction and they may not be significant
steel rods is charged with low-voltage solar-
generated electricity to speed up the coral
growth. Corals are growing 3-5 times faster
than normal.
● Coral reefs weaken wave energy and serve
as a breeding ground and nursery for fish
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 COASTAL PROTECTION MEASURES -- HARD ENGINEERING MEASURES
A hard engineering approach refers to construction of physical structures to defend against erosive power of waves. Also known as
structural approach.
MEASURE (Describe)
Seawalls
● Made of concrete or
stone
● Built parallel to the coast
● Constructed in thousands
of locations throughout
the world
Gabions
Aim: Prevent or reduce coastal
erosion by weakening wave
energy
ADVANTAGES (+Examples)
Protect coastlines against wave attack by absorbing wave
energy
E.g: Seawalls in the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
Absorb wave energy better than seawalls because the
gaps between the rocks allow water to filter through
DISADVANTAGES (+Examples)
● Costly to build and maintain as constant
repairs have to be made to prevent their
collapse
● Absorb only some wave energy and reflect
incoming waves
● The powerful backwash of the reflected
waves washes away the beach materials at
the foot of and beneath the seawall, leading
to their collapse
○ E.g: A seawall along the coast of
Drakes Island in England collapsed
due to erosion occurring at its base
● Unsightly
● Costly as need to be maintained regularly
● Easily corroded by seawater and damaged
by excessive trampling or vandalism
● E.g: Gabions were installed when the East
Coast Park in Singapore was first reclaimed.
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Gabions are wire cages filled with They were subsequently removed as they
crushed rocks built along a shore were vandalised.
or behind a beach

Breakwaters

● Create a zone of calm water behind them when
constructed offshore => materials are deposited
Built parallel to or with one end and built up in this zone to form beaches
attached to the coast
● Safe harbour for boats
● E.g: A breakwater at Almeida, Spain, successfully
Aim: Break the force of oncoming protects the coast from erosion
waves
● Aesthetically unappealing and expensive to
build
● Protect the coast unevenly
● E.g: Breakwaters built in Portland Harbour,
England, resulted in erosion and flooding
problems, which affected properties, beaches
and communication infrastructure

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 COASTAL PROTECTION MEASURES -- HARD ENGINEERING MEASURES

MEASURE (Describe) ADVANTAGES (+Examples) DISADVANTAGES (+Examples)

Groynes

● Series of low walls
constructed at right
angles to the coast
● Absorb or reduce wave
energy
● Cause materials to be
deposited on the updrift
side of the groyne facing
LSD
● Sustain and extend beach areas.
● E.g: A series of groynes along the coast of
Eastbourne, UK successfully maintains beaches
along the coast.
● Unsightly and expensive to build and
maintain
● No new materials are carried and deposited
on the downdrift side which isn’t protected by
the groyne => LSD will eventually erode
away the unprotected part of the beach
● E.g: Large amounts of sediments were
eroded on the downdrift side of a groyne built
along Sandy Hook in NJ, USA. The groyne
was eventually demolished

Aim: Retain sediments that

otherwise be removed due to LSD

To prevent or reduce the erosion

of beach materials on the
downdrift side of the groyne, the
tips of groynes are sometimes
angled about 10 degrees,
depending on the direction of the
prevailing waves.

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Tetrapods
● Four-pronged concrete
structures stacked
offshore in an interlocking
formation
Aim:
● Help dissipate wave
energy
● Reduce impact of
tsunamis
● Reduce coastal erosion
● In contrast to breakwaters or sea walls, they allow ● Aesthetically unappealing and expensive to
water to pass around rather than hit against them build
=> No powerful backwash is generated =>
Reduce the possibility of tetrapods being ● Dangerous to swimmers, surfers and boaters
damaged by waves
● Placed quickly compared to other structures
which may take time to build while coasts are still
being attacked by waves since they are pre-
casted
● E.g: Crescent City, north California used
tetrapods to reduce impact of tsunamis and
coastal erosion.
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