SHORELINE PROTECTION
SHORELINE PROTECTION
Shore protection works are used to retain or rebuild natural systems (cliffs, dunes, wetlands, and beaches) or to protect man's artifacts (buildings, infrastructure, etc.) landward of the shoreline. Specifically, shore protection contributes to storm damage reduction and coastal erosion mitigation.
Storms cause flooding and wave damage, both of which can harm or destroy coastal property and habitats. Storm protection works reduce the effects of these damages. Storms also create short-term erosional events. Natural recovery after the storm and seasonal fluctuations may not be in balance, which results in long-term erosion. Shore protection projects moderate the long-term average erosion rate of shoreline change from natural and man-made causes. Reduced erosion means a wider sediment buffer zone between the land and the sea, and, consequently, erosion mitigation translates into storm damage reduction from flooding and wave attack.
There are a number of alternatives for shore protection, including different types of structural responses as well as non-structural ones. Combinations of these alternatives are often used together to achieve the most appropriate shore protection response for a certain coastal area.
LIVING SHORELINES
Living shorelines is a term used to describe environmentally friendly shoreline stabilization techniques. Living shorelines are alternatives to hardened shoreline techniques, such as bulkheads and seawalls, which stabilize shorelines, while also providing the benefits of a natural shoreline.
Living shorelines are shoreline protection projects that provide habitat for plants and animals, stabilize shorelines and improve water quality.
Living shorelines usually include the construction of a hard structure or breakwater made from rock or bagged shell and the planting of native vegetation along intertidal shorelines. The breakwaters play an important role in living shorelines as they help with erosional issues, slow the intrusion of muck and storm water and provide essential hard surface for a variety of sheltered and attached organisms. The inclusion of needed habitat as part of IRL restoration is well documented.
- Storm damage reduction
- Costal Erosion Mitigation.
- Habitat preservation.
- Ecosystem Stabilization.