Hard and soft engineering Flashcards
What is the definition of hard engineering?
Physical management of the coasts attempts to control natural processes such as erosion and longshore drift
What is the definition of soft engineering?
Working with the natural processes and protections to defend areas of the coastline
What is a revetment and the pros and cons?
- Hard engineering, Sloped wooden barrier running parallel to the coastline
Pros
- Breaks down waves increasing deposition
- Good for tourism since it keeps beaches sizeable
Cons
- Ugly
- Restricts access to the beach
- Expensive to maintain
What is beach nourishment?
- Obtaining sediment from other beaches or sea beds to place on other beaches, soft engineering
Advantages
- Looks natural so won’t stop the flow of tourism
Disadvantages
- Expensive
- Will be eroded away again soon
What is a recurved sea wall?
Large scale hard engineering wall that stretches parallel to the sea that reflects wave energy back onto the sea
Pros
- Great at stopping erosion
Cons
- Eroded at their base
- Extremely expensive
- Extremely prominent
What are offshore breakwaters?
Designed to break waves before they reach the coast, hard engineering
Pros
- Brilliant for the creation of a beach
- Offshore so they don’t limit access to the sea
Cons
- Gets in the way of boats
- Disrupt marine life
What are groynes?
Limit the movement and loss of beach material, hard engineering, hard engineering
Pros
- Relatively cheap
- Promote sandy beaches
Cons
- Terminal groyne syndrome, the last groyne will starve the coast of sediment
- Need constant maintenance.
What is Rip-rap?
Hard engineering, Protects coast from erosion
Pros
- Look natural
- One of the most longlasting hard engineering
Cons
- Maintenance
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What is sand dune management?
Trying to keep sand dune in place by planting vegetation to strengthen them.
Pros
- Brilliant natural protection
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Cons
- Lots of animals disrupted due to planting on dunes
- Management can be influenced by growth of vegetation and if it even grows at all.
- Usually have to get over them to get the beach and are often trampled.W
What is managed retreat?
Soft engineering strategy. when you let part of the coastline be flooded but in a managed way to place resources elsewhere.
Pros
- No cost
- Brilliant for promoting ecological environment
- Lead to salt marshes and other natural processes.
Cons
- Can be difficult to control how much a coastline retreats or floods
What are gabions?
Rocks in cages protecting the coastline from erosion
Pros
Protect sea walls
Cons
- Relatively expensive
- Ugly
- Can rust
What is beach engineering?
Pushing the beach up so it has a steeper gradient and will provide more of a natural barrier as waves will lose all of their energy, soft engineering strategy
Pros
- Relatively cheap
Cons
- Regular maintenance needed to maintain the shape
