Coastline Management

Coastline Management

1. Shoreline management plans

   • SMP
     • Plans for coastlines at risk from erosion or flooding
   • Hard engineering
     • Building artificial structures
       • Sea wall
         • Concrete barrier with curved face
           • Cost up to £10 million per kmAdv - Effective + Walkway DisAdv - Ugly + Very expensive
       • Groynes
         • Timber structure to trap sediment
           • Cost up to £5k per m Adv - Bigger beach + Not too expensive + Good for fisherman DisAdv - Stops longshore drift + Ugly
       • Rock armour
         • Piles of large rocks
           • Up to £4k per mAdv - Cheap + Used for fishing DisAdv - Expensive to transport rocks + Un-natural + Ugly
   • Soft engineering
     • Dune regeneration
       • Buffers to the sea
         • £2k per 100m Adv - Cheap + Maintains natural coastal environment (popular with people AND wildlife) DisAdv - Time-consuming to plant marram grass and fence off areas + Damaged by storms
     • Building artificial structures
       • Beach nourishment
         • Addition of sand or shingle
           • £3k per m Adv - Cheap + Easy to maintain + Bigger beach (increases tourist potential DisAdv - Needs constant maintenence
       • Marsh creation
         • Low-lying coastal areas ---> salt marshes
           • £5k - 10k per hectare Adv - Cheaper option + Creates habitat for wildlife DisAdv - Land lost + farmers/landowners will need to be compensated