Geography holiday project: East Coast Park Coastal Studies

Coastal Studies

East Coast Park

An Introduction to East Coast Park

Some Coastal protection measures we've researched online and observed on site

These trees are not just there for show.
They are part of the soft engineering methods.

Observed-seawalls

:people build seawalls along the coast to prevent the coast from erosion.The seawalls are usually made of concrete, which absorbs the energy waves and protects the coast against strong waves especially during storms.However,strong backwash wears away the base of the seawall in the long run which will eventually lead the coast to erosion(thus,maintaining the seawalls cost a lot of money).Seawalls protect only the land immediately behind them, and do not offer protection to fronting beaches.

Observed- groynes

:groynes are found along the beach to protect it from erosion.A groyne is a low wall built at right angles to prevent materials from being transported away by the longshore drift. this enables the transported material to accumulate on the side of the groyne facing the longshore.They starve beaches further down the coast of sediment which can result in coastal erosion, this could destroy buildings or private land, which also causes housing prices to plummet in the region making it difficult for affected homeowners to move out. They are also quite expensive.

-breakwater:

A breakwater is usually made of granite. It creates a zone of shallow water between itself and the coastso that the water will break against it before reachinng the coast.The cost of each breakwall is estimated to be around S$1 million.The disadvantage of the breakwaters is that they are unable to provide complete protection as they still leave areas of the coast unprotected. Those ares which are not protected is prone to erosion.Breakwaters are unable to provide complete protection for the whole coast and therefore unprotected areas will prone to erosion.

Hard engineering measures(mentioned above)

~Seawalls [concrete]

-built in east coast park

-absorbs the wave energy and protects the coast against strong waves

~Breakwaters [granite]

-built in east coast park

-waves will break against breakwaters before reaching the coast

~Groynes

-found along the beach at East coast park

-built to reduce impact of erosion

~Gabions

-wire cages containing small rocks that protect the coast against erosion

-used to form a wall along the coast

Conclusion: hard engineering measures have their own strengths & weaknesses, but a combination of hard and soft engineering measures that will take into consideration the envronmental factors may be the answer to acheiving a balance between preserving the natural beauty and protecting the coastlines of East coast park.