Application of Coastal Engineering in Coastal Zone Management

Traditional hard structures are often effective in dealing with the effects of nature on the shoreline. Groins, revetments, breakwaters and other structures have been constructed for the purposes of shoreline control and they are effective in many applications. There are situations or locations in the coastal zone where these traditional solutions are not feasible for economic, political or other reasons. In this case, prudent coastal zone management may employ alternative “soft engineering solutions” effectively. Soft engineering uses sand, vegetation, cobbles, and small structures to reduce the magnitude of erosion forces or to relocate coastal forces away from the coastline. This is in contrast to structural solutions where the objective is to abate the forces of erosion and scour in place. Examples of soft engineering include beach nourishment, sand scrapping, relocation of natural inlets, groundwater control, regional sediment management and sand berms. Successful examples of each type of soft engineering are provided in the chapter.