COASTAL STRUCTURES
Consequences of Coastal Processes
• Beach erosion (Natural or Man-Made Causes)
• Beach Protection & Nourishment
-coastal structures
Why coastal defense structures
are used?
• To prevent shoreline erosion and flooding
of the hinterland.
• To shelter harbor basins and harbor
entrances against waves.
• To stabilize of nevigation channels at inlets.
• To protect of water intakes and outfalls
• To retain or rebuild natural sytems(cliffs,
dunes) or protect mans artifacts(buildings)
landward of the shoreline.
What kinds of conditions should
be taken into?
• Stability
• Safety
• Serviceability
• Economy
Beach Nourishment
Coastal Structures
• Break waters: rubble mound, sheet pile, stone
asphalt, Dolos, concrete caissons, floating
structures (coastal & offshore)
• Jetties & Groins (normal to the shorelines)
• Sea walls
• Bulkheads, Revetments, G-tubes
• Sand Bypassing (continue the littoral process;
passive and active)
• Ports, Harbors and Marinas
Hard Stabilization
• Structures built to decrease coastal erosion and
interfere with sand movement
• Also called armoring of the shore
• Often results in unwanted outcomes
– Some structures may increase wave erosion
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Hard Stabilization
• Four major types of stabilization structures:
1. Groins and groin fields
2. Jetties
3. Breakwaters
4. Seawalls
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Shore Protection Projects- Breakwaters
Shore Protection Projects- Breakwaters
Shore Protection Projects- Breakwaters
Breakwater
RUBBLE
MOUND
BREAK-
WATER
VERTICAL BREAKWATER FIGURES:
Design
Considerations
Breakwaters
• Built parallel to a shoreline
• Designed to protect harbors from waves
• Can cause excessive erosion, requiring
dredging to keep area stable
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GROINS
• Vertical barrier extending from dunes (typically)
offshore
• Meant to trap alongshore drifting sediment
• Impounds updrift thus it causes erosion downdrift
• To minimize downdrift erosion, can place a groin field
rather than single one
• Less interest lately as they lead to the screw your
neighbor problem
Groins and Groin Fields
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Shore Protection Projects- Groins
Shore Protection Projects- Groins
Shore Protection Projects- Groins
Groins
Shore Protection Projects- Revetments
Different Kinds of Dolos
Concrete & Reinforced Concrete
Dolos
Seawalls
• Destructive to environment
• Designed to armor coastline
and protect human
developments
• One large storm can remove
beach
• Wave activity eventually
undermines seawall
structure; need continual
repair or will collapse
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Shore Protection Projects- Seawalls
Construction of Galveston seawall ~ 1902
Ports and Harbors
Sand Bypass Facility
New South Wales and Queensland, Australia
Jetties
• Built perpendicular to shore
• Built in pairs
• Built to protect harbor entrances
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Waterway
Navigation
Jetties
Jetties at the
entrance of
Tweed River
Outlet of the sand pump
Alternatives to Hard Stabilization
• Three major alternatives
1. Construction restrictions
2. Beach replenishment
3. Relocation
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Alternatives to Hard Stabilization
• Construction restrictions
– Simplest alternative
– Limit building near shorelines
– Paradoxically, National Flood Insurance
Program encouraged construction
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Alternatives to Hard Stabilization
• Beach replenishment
– Sand added to beach/longshore current
– Expensive; costs between $5 and $10 per
cubic yard
– Sand must be dredged from elsewhere.
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Alternatives to hard stabilization
• Relocation
– Move structures rather than protect them in areas
of erosion
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CLASSIFICATION OF COASTAL PROTECTION
CONCERNS &SOLUTIONS TO THEM
SHORELINE BACKSHORE HARBOR INLET
STABILIZATION PROTECTION PROTECTION STABILIZATION
SEAWALL SEAWALL JETTIES JETTIES
PROTECTIVE SHORE-
BULKHEAD DREDGING
BEACH CONNECTED
BREAKWATERS
REVETMENT SAND DUNE
OFFSHORE
BREAKWATERS
GROIN REVETMENT
CONSIDERATIONS
Hydraulics
DETACHED Sedimentation
BREAKWATER BULKHEAD Control Structure
Maintenance
Legal Requirements
BEACH Environment
NOURISHMENT Economics
Navigation( for harbor
SAND
pro. and inlet stabil.)
BYPASSING
AT INLET Yalciner, A.C.
