Coastal Processes, Hazards, and Society

Summary and Final Tasks

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Summary and Final Tasks

Summary

In Module 8, you have learned about the various traditional "hard" structures used in coastal engineering for shoreline stabilization and flood protection. However, hard structures partially hinder the recreational use of the coastal zone and can cause adverse ecological effects within the coastal zone. Groins, and jetties in particular, interrupt longshore sediment transport, causing updrift accretion and downdrift erosion of the shoreline. Soft shoreline stabilization methods offer an alternative to hard structures by using environmentally friendly techniques that enhance ecological functions and allow natural processes to continue. In the activities, you viewed different coastal areas with erosional shorelines, learned how to measure the long-term erosion rates, and became familiar with some of the complications of real-world problems where choices between the use of hard or soft structures must be made.

Reminder - Complete all of the Module 8 tasks!

You have reached the end of Module 8! Double-check the Module 8 Roadmap to make sure you have completed all of the activities listed there before you begin Module 9.

References and Recommended Reading

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (2002). Coastal Engineering Manual. Coastal Engineering Manual (pp. 1–62). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. doi:10.1093/intimm/dxs026
  • Larson, M., Hanson, H., & Kraus, N. C. (1987). Analytical Solutions of the One-Line Model of Shoreline Change.
  • IPCC. (2007a). Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. (M. Tignor & H. L. Miller, Eds.)Science (p. 1009). Cambridge University Press.
  • IPCC. (2007b). Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. (M. L. Parry, O. F. Canziani, J. P. Palutikof, P. J. Van Der Linden, & C. E. Hanson, Eds.)the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Vol. 114, p. 976). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm
  • Barnard, P. L., Hansen, J. E., & Erikson, L. H. (2012). Synthesis Study of an Erosion Hot Spot, Ocean Beach, California. Journal of Coastal Research, 28(4), 903–922.
  • Bosboom, J., & Stive, M. J. F. (2010). Coastal Dynamics 1: Lecture notes CT4305. Delft, the Netherlands: Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Section of Hydraulic Engineering.