Off shore breakwaters reduce the

force of the waves and reduce the

amount of costal erosion to the land
behind it. They can either be
floating or fixed depending the
water dept and tides. They are
designed to absorb shock, this
either done by simple mass, the
waves will just hit it. Or buy a slope
which slowly stops the waves using
Advantages:
gravity.
They stop wave force
They are usually used in harbours
Prevent costal erosion effectively
because of the amount of ships
Provides a suitable area for a port or
going in and out but can also be
harbour.
used to stop erosion and stop the
Disadvantages:
destruction of a beach.
Expensive
Visual pollution
Are metal cages filled with
rocks. They are very
versatile. They can be
stacked into the required
shape, used to filter silt
from run-off and used to
retain walls, this can also
be useful in a coastal Advantages:
erosion situation. Protect areas below cliffs or hill for
Like breakwaters they are landslide
a shock absorbers and Cheap
used to reduce the force of An effective erosion stopper
waves. Disadvantages:
Visual pollution
Can be obstructive on a beach
Groynes prevent
longshore drift, they do
this by stopping the
sand that the waves
push along the beach
in longshore drift.
However, people don’t
always see eye-to-eye
on the subject, they are Advantages:
considerd to be a form Effective preventers of long shore drift
of visual pollution but Cheap resources required
do prevent a beach
Disadvantages:
being taken by
longshore drift. Lots of maintenance
Visual pollution
Are sloped, large brick or
block structures made by
blocks of concrete cemented
together.
Are used on cliffs and hill
sides, they absorb the shock
of oncoming water. As the
waves travel up the slope Advantages:
their power is reduced by Effective erosion stoppers
gravity and unless there is a They tend to blend in with the
storm, they usually prevent landscape
the wave from going over the Disadvantages:
top and erode the landscape. Expensive
Require lots of maintenance
Sea walls are huge
concrete structures,
usually curved to
deflect the wash.
If they are flat faced,
they just stop the
wave in its tracks, a
Advantages:
curved one deflect
Very strong and solid, to prevent wave
away the swash and it
action
goes back into the
Disadvantages:
sea.
Expensive
Needs lots of maintenance
Ugly structure.