Coastal Engineeringg
Coastal Engineeringg
Coastal Engineeringg
The majority of the world’s population lives near coastal areas, yet these prized
real estates are prone to the constant dangers of erosion. Erosion prevention and
the protection of the coastlines are major responsibilities of coastal engineering.
Coastal Engineers come up with structures of defense to protect against the
devastation attributed to either erosion or storm waves.
Some of the structures built by coastal engineers to protect against erosion are
Breakwaters, Seawalls, Groynes and Revetments.
1.Hard Engineering
Gabion Revetment
Coastal Barrage Rock Armour (RIPRAP)
Cliff Fixing
2.Soft Engineering
Soft engineering works with nature to protect the coast rather than trying to stop
natural processes. It uses ecological principles and practices, therefore making
less of a negative impact on the natural environment. Soft engineering is less
expensive to implement and maintain, and creates more long-term, sustainable
solutions than hard engineering projects.
Common Types of Soft Engineering
Beach Nourishment Managed Retreat
The occurrence of wave phenomena – like sea waves, swell, tides and tsunamis –
require engineering knowledge of their physics, as well as models:
both numerical models and physical models. The practices in present-day coastal
engineering are more-and-more based on models verified and validated by
experimental data.
Apart from the wave transformations themselves, for the waves coming from
deep water into the shallow coastal waters and surf zone, the effects of the
waves are important. These effects include:
• the wave loading on coastal structures like breakwaters, groynes, jetties, sea
walls and dikes
• wave-induced currents, like the longshore current in the surf zone, rip
currents and Stokes drift, affecting sediment transport and morphodynamics
• wave agitation in harbors, which may result in harbor downtime
• wave overtopping over seawalls and dikes, which may e.g. threaten the
stability of a dike
Completed Project