Manage the Coast
How coasts are protected from erosion and flooding: hard engineering like sea walls, groynes and rock armour, soft engineering like beach nourishment and dune regeneration, and managed retreat, judged by weighing cost against benefit.
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Holding back the sea
The sea is always attacking the coast, so people have to decide whether to defend the land, work with nature, or step back and let it go. At Mappleton on the Holderness coast, rock armour and groynes were built to protect the village and the coast road. This module works through hard engineering, soft engineering and managed retreat, and how to judge which is worth it.
Management words to know
Learn these before you defend a coastline.
Hard against soft engineering
The two approaches protect a coast in very different ways.
Match the scheme, weigh the cost
In the exam, match the method to the coast and weigh cost against benefit. Hard engineering builds strong structures that hold the sea back but cost a lot and can spoil the view; soft engineering works with nature more cheaply but needs regular topping up; managed retreat gives up land of little value so the sea can flood it safely. Name a real scheme, say what it protects, and judge whether it is worth the money.
Match the term
- coastal management
- hard engineering
- soft engineering
- managed retreat
- protecting a coast from erosion and flooding
- solid built structures against the sea
- working with natural processes
- giving up land of little worth to the sea
Match the method
- a sea wall
- wooden groynes
- beach nourishment
- managed retreat
- a solid barrier that reflects the waves
- fences that catch material to build up the beach
- adds new sand to widen the beach
- lets the sea flood cheap farmland
What kind of method?
What kind of coastal management is beach nourishment?
- Soft engineering
- Hard engineering
- Managed retreat
- A type of erosion
True about managing coasts
Select the TWO true statements about coastal management.
- A sea wall is a form of hard engineering
- Managed retreat lets land of little value flood on purpose
- Soft engineering uses large concrete structures
- Hard engineering is always the cheapest option
Cost the sea wall
In one plan a sea wall costs 5000 pounds for each metre built. Multiply the cost per metre by 4 to find the cost of a 4 metre section in pounds. What is the answer?
Order the decision
Put the steps of deciding how to manage a coast in order, earliest first.
- Work out which parts of the coast are most at risk
- Decide how valuable the land and property are
- Choose hard, soft or managed retreat to suit
- Weigh the cost against the benefit
Complete the rules
Protecting a coast from erosion and flooding is coastal _____. Solid built structures like sea walls are _____ engineering. Working with natural processes is _____ engineering. Deliberately letting cheap land flood is managed _____.
Spot the hard engineering
Tap the TWO examples of hard engineering.
- a concrete sea wall
- rock armour at the base of a cliff
- adding new sand to the beach
- planting grass on the dunes
Name the management
Read each real coastal case and name the kind of management.
- At Mappleton, rock armour and groynes are built to protect the village and the coast road. What kind of management is this?
- Rather than defend a stretch of low-worth farmland, a council lets the sea flood it. What is this?
- A resort adds new sand to widen its beach so it soaks up wave energy. What kind of management is this?
Explain coastal management
Explain the ways a coast can be managed and how to judge which method is best.
- Explain hard engineering, soft engineering and managed retreat with an example of each
- Explain the benefits and drawbacks of hard against soft engineering
- Explain how cost and the value of the land affect the choice