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Direction of
FETCH is
quite clear.
Managing Longshore Drift
Groynes
• The purpose of a groyne is to create and maintain a healthy
beach on its updrift side, which in turn provides protection to
the land behind. This is achieved through two main processes.
• Firstly, groynes act as a barrier to physically stop sediment
transport (sand) in the direction of longshore drift. This causes
a build-up of the beach on the groyne's updrift side. Secondly,
groynes interrupt the tidal flow forcing the tidal current
further offshore beyond the groyne end. This slows the tidal
current inshore causing the deposition of heavier sediments and
encouraging the beach to grow in size.
• Obviously, if a groyne is stopping material from moving along
the coast then the down-drift side of the groyne will be
starved of material (which is why it is usually lower than the
up-drift side). If a groyne is correctly designed then there will
be a limit to the amount of material it can hold and excess
sediment is free to move on through the system. However, if a
groyne is too large it may trap all sediment reaching it and this
can cause severe beach erosion problems on the down-drift
side, which in turn can result in cliff erosion problems.
Permeable groynes
Fetch