The difference between soft and hard engineering
- Hard Engineering. Hard engineering is a coastal management technique used to protect coasts,by absorbing the energy of waves, preventing erosion and flooding.
- Common Types of Hard Engineering
- Soft Engineering. Soft engineering works with nature to protect the coast rather than trying to stop natural processes.
- Common Types of Soft Engineering
What are hard engineering coastal management techniques?
Hard engineering coastal management techniques are typically used to protect settlements. They are used to deflect the power of waves. These are highly visible solutions which help reassure coastal communities.
Why is hard engineering used to protect the coast?
When the natural defences of a coastline are not carefully managed, or when they simply cannot cope to prevent coastal flooding, hard engineering is often necessary to protect towns from the sea. In this video we look at some different hard engineering techniques used to protect the coast.
What are some hard engineering strategies at Holderness coast?
The image below shows a range of hard engineering strategies at Hornsea, Holderness Coast. Groynes are wooden barriers constructed at right angles to the beach to retain the material. The beach material, including sand and pebbles, are trapped between groynes and cannot be transported away by longshore drift.
What does coastal management mean to you?
That coastal management must be sustainable, whereby economic development is essential but is not prioritised over the protection of the coastal environment. It must involve all stakeholders, plan for the long term, and work with the natural processes and not against them.
What is hard engineering management?
Hard engineering management involves using artificial structures, whereas soft engineering management is a more sustainable and natural approach to manage coastal erosion. Geography.
What is hard coastal management?
Hard engineering coastal management involves building artificial structures which try to control natural processes. Hard engineering approaches to coastal management tend to be expensive, last only a short amount of time, are visually unattractive and unsustainable.
What are hard engineering coastal management strategies?
Hard engineering strategies act as a barrier between the sea and the land. Artificial structures are used to change or disrupt natural processes. Examples of hard engineering strategies include sea walls, groynes, revetments, rock armour (rip rap), gabions and offshore breakwaters.
What is hard and soft coastal engineering?
Photo: Coastal Erosion Blog) Hard engineering is the construction of something artificial to protect a coastline from erosion or to prevent river flooding, whereas soft engineering is making use of the natural processes in order to do the same.
What does hard engineering mean in geography?
Erosion is a natural process which shapes cliffs . Over time, erosion can cause cliff collapse – therefore the coastline needs to be managed. Hard engineering involves building artificial structures, which try to control natural processes at a local scale.
What is the difference between hard and soft engineering in coastal management?
Hard Engineering: Artificial, man-made structures used to protect coastlines against erosion. Soft Engineering: This is a more natural, sustainable approach to coastal management, focusing on smaller-scale techniques that align with the natural environment.
What are the methods of hard engineering?
Hard engineering coastal protection (erosion)Concrete sea wall. Solid facing to a coastal wall or cliff. ... Revetment. Open slanted concrete or wooden facing/fence offering partial resistance but letting some seawater to pass through. ... Rip rap / rock armour. ... Tetrapods. ... Gabions. ... Groynes. ... Offshore reefs.
What are the benefits of hard engineering?
Hard engineering options tend to be expensive, short-term options....Gabions.AdvantagesDisadvantagesAbsorb the energy of waves. Allows the build-up of a beach.They can be expensive to obtain and transport the boulders. Can also look unattractive.
Why is hard engineering effective?
Hard engineering options Protects the base of cliffs, land and buildings against erosion. Can prevent coastal flooding in some areas. Expensive to build. Curved sea walls reflect the energy of the waves back to the sea.
What is soft engineering coastal management?
Soft engineering is where the natural environment is used to help reduce coastal erosion and river flooding. At the coast soft engineering is where a beach is used to absorb wave energy and reduce erosion.
How does hard engineering prevent flooding?
Examples of hard engineering strategies include artificial embankments or levees, channelisation, diversion spillways and dredging. These are larger than natural levees and are usually made of erosion-resistant concrete. They allow more water to flow in the river at a greater height so flood risk is reduced.
What are soft engineering coastal management strategies?
Soft engineering techniques involve working with nature to manage the coastline. Techniques include cliff stabilisation, dune regeneration and managed retreat.
Coastal management
Hard engineering management involves using artificial structures, whereas soft engineering management is a more sustainable and natural approach to manage coastal erosion.
Sea walls
Concrete walls that are placed at the foot of a cliff to prevent erosion. They are curved to reflect the energy back into the sea.
Rock armour
Large boulders placed at the foot of a cliff. They break the waves and absorb their energy.
What is hard engineering?
Hard Engineering. Hard engineering techniques are typically used to protect coastal settlements. They are used to deflect the power of waves. These are highly visible solutions which help reassure coastal communities. However, they are are expensive to install and maintain.
Why are coastal barrages important?
They help provide a more consistent level of water. An example can be found in Cardiff Bay, Wales. Coastal barrages can also be used to generate hydro-electricity. Their environmental impacts are considerable due to their impact on tides and are very expensive to construct and maintain.
What are the disadvantages of sea walls?
The disadvantages of sea walls are that they are expensive to construct and maintain. They also create a strong backwash which can erode under the wall. Scarborough sea defences from Anthony Bennett on Vimeo. Scarborough sea defences. from Anthony Bennett. Play.
Where are coastal barrages located?
They help provide a more consistent level of water. An example can be found in Cardiff Bay, Wales.
What is the purpose of sea walls?
Sea walls aim to protect the coast by by shielding it with concrete, steel and stone . Some sea walls are recurved, like the one shown in the video of Scarborough sea defences below. The aim of the lip is to deflect the energy of the wave.
What are coastal areas used for?
Coastal areas are used for tourism, fishing, industry, trade and transport. Various coastal management strategies are employed, each coming with a number of advantages and disadvantages. Part of. Geography.
What is a sea wall?
Sea wall. A solid wall that is used to separate the land from the sea. Advantages. Disadvantages. Protects the base of cliffs, land and buildings against erosion. They can prevent coastal flooding in some areas. Expensive to build and maintain. Curved sea walls reflect the energy of the waves back to the sea.
What is hard engineering?
Hard engineering is a coastal management technique used to protect coasts,by absorbing the energy of waves, preventing erosion and flooding. They are highly visible man-made structures used to stop or disrupt natural processes.
How does soft engineering work?
Soft engineering works with nature to protect the coast rather than trying to stop natural processes. It uses ecological principles and practises, 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.
Is hard engineering bad for the environment?
These structures are expensive,short-term solutions and often they can have a negative impact on the environment. Installing hard engineering structures in one coastal location can have detrimental effects further down the coast.
What is coastal engineering?
Coastal engineering is a type of management where strategies are put in place to protect areas from the effect of coastal erosion, transportation and deposition. Coastal engineering strategies can be categorized as being either 'hard' or 'soft'.
How fast is the Holderness coastline eroding?
The Holderness coastline is one of the most rapidly eroding areas of the UK. The cliffs have been eroding at a rate of 3.2 yards (2.9 m) per year. The building of the coastal engineering strategies caused controversy due to the slowing of the rate of erosion to the north of the groyne and the possible speeding up of the rate of erosion to the south.
Why is coastal management important?
Coastal management is necessary to prevent the erosion of our coasts, establishing and protecting the divide between the land and sea. There are two approaches to coastal management, defined as hard engineering and soft engineering.
What is soft engineering?
Soft engineering defines natural defences, typically considered inexpensive, long term and sustainable, whereas hard engineering represents artificial structures which are arguably short term, expensive and unsustainable solutions to coastal erosion . However, as explained, it is advantageous to consider the benefits of each defence outside ...
What are some examples of soft engineering defences?
Examples of soft engineering defences include beach nourishment, where beaches are built up with sediment, slowing waves down and reducing erosion, and dune nourishment, where marram grass is planted on sand dunes, stabilising them and building them up through trapping sand.
What are the different types of engineering defences?
There are many different hard engineering defences, including sea walls, groynes and gabions, each of which serve a different purpose. For instance, groynes are wooden or rock structures which are built out into the sea at right angles.
Why are sea walls important?
Alternatively, sea walls protect cliffs and reduce the risk of flooding. It is important to recognise that there are advantages and disadvantages to each hard engineering defence.
Is gabions a hard or soft engineering?
Each defence is therefore unique and has its own strengths and weaknesses. Coastal management is thus categorised into hard and soft engineering.
Is hard engineering more expensive than soft engineering?
Hard engineering defences are considered more expensive than soft engineering defences. They have a shorter life span and many shift the problems experienced to alternative locations. Therefore, they are considered less sustainable management strategies.
Sea Walls
- Seawalls are usually built along the front of cliffs to protect settlements or another land of high economic importance. They are often recurved which means waves are reflected back on themselves. This can cause the erosionof material at the base of the seawall. The video below s…
Coastal Barrages
Rock Armour
Groynes
Cliff Fixing
- These structure are sometimes constructed in bays and estuaries. Coastal barragesare partly submerged structures containing sluice gates that control the tidal flow of the sea and river water from land. They help provide a more consistent level of water. An example can be found in Cardiff Bay, Wales. Coastal barrages can also be used to generate hy...
Off- Shore Reefs
- Rock armouror rip-rap involves placing large boulders in front of a cliff or sea wall to absorb the energy of waves. Rock armour is a cheaper solution than seawalls to deflect the wave energy. The video below shows a combination of rock armour in the form of large rocks and accropodes (x shaped concrete structures) at Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Gabionswork in a similar way to r…