Human activities on coastal management

• Hard engineering strategies involve using artificial structures, such as sea walls, to manage coastal erosion.
• Sea walls are concrete walls placed at the foot of a cliff to prevent erosion, usually with promenades for people to walk along.
• The advantages of sea walls include their effectiveness at protecting the base of the cliff and their ability to attract tourists due to the promenades.
• The disadvantages of sea walls include their high cost (approximately £2,000 per metre), their inability to withstand powerful waves, and their unnatural appearance.
• Rock armour/rip rap involves placing large boulders at the foot of a cliff to break waves and absorb their energy.
• The advantages of rock armour/rip rap include its cheap cost (approximately £100 per metre), its ability to absorb wave energy, and its aesthetic appeal.
• The disadvantages of rock armour/rip rap include its lack of strength, its unnatural appearance, and its inability to withstand powerful waves.
• Gabions involve placing rocks in mesh cages and placing them in areas affected by erosion.
• The advantages of gabions include their cheap cost (approximately £100 per metre), their ability to absorb wave energy, and their aesthetic appeal.
• The disadvantages of gabions include their lack of strength, their unnatural appearance, and their inability to withstand powerful waves.
• Wooden groynes are structures built out at right angles into the sea to build a beach and trap sediment being carried by longshore drift.
• The advantages of wooden groynes include their ability to build a beach, which encourages tourism, and their ability to trap sediment being carried by longshore drift.
• The disadvantages of wooden groynes include their inability to withstand powerful waves, their unattractive appearance, and their potential to starve beaches further down the coastline, increasing rates of erosion elsewhere.