3.

10 –Managing coastal erosion and flooding

Can coastal erosion be stopped?
- Can be prevented but it’s an expensive business
- Cost of protecting the coast is often controversial
- Mnay don’t believe that their taxes should be used to pay to protect someone else’s coastline

Hard Engineering
- involves building structure along the coast
Type of Structure Advantages Disadvantages Cost
Groynes - increases tourist potential and - starve beaches further along the coast £5000 t0 £10,000
Timber or rock structures built at right angles protects the land behind it of fresh sediment (often leads to each (at 200 –
to the coast. They trap sediment being moved - work with natural processes to increased erosion elsewhere) metre intervals)
along the coast by LSD – building up the build up the beach - unnatural and rock groynes can be
beach - not too expensive very unattractive
Sea walls - Effective prevention of erosion - reflect wave energy, rather than £6000 a metre
Made of stone/concrete at the foot of a cliff, or - They often have a promenade absorbing it
at the top of a beach. They usually have a for people to walk along - can be intrusive and unnatural looking
curved face to reflect waves back into the sea. - they are very expensive to build and
maintain
Rip rap (rock armour) - it is relatively cheap and easy to - The rocks used are usually from £100,000 to
Large rocks placed at the foot of a cliff, or at construct and maintain somewhere else so they don’t fit in with £300,000 for 100
the top of a beach. - often used for fishing from, or the geology and can look out of place metres
It forms a permeable barrier to the sea – for sunbathing by tourists - can be very intrusive
breaking up the waves but allowing some - rocks can be dangerous for people
water to pass through clambering over them
Revetments - They are relatively inexpensive - they are intrusive and very unnatural Up to £4500 a
Sloping wooden, concrete, or rock structures to build looking metre
– placed at the foot of a cliff or the top of a - they can need high levels of
beach. They break up the waves’ energy maintenance

Offshore breakwater - An effective permeable barrier - it is visually unappealing Similar to rock

A partly submerged rock barrier, designed to - it’s a potential navigation hazard armour –
break up the waves before they reach the depending on the
coast. materials used

The Holderness coast