Soft Engineering & Managed Retreat Flashcards

All 7 cards in this deck

What is beach nourishment?

Adding sand or shingle from elsewhere to build up an existing beach as a natural defence against erosion and flooding.

Give one cost of beach nourishment.

It needs constant maintenance to replace material washed away, especially after winter storms.

What is dune regeneration, and give one benefit of it.

Planting marram grass and fencing to rebuild sand dunes; the dunes absorb wave energy and increase biodiversity.

What does 'managed retreat' (coastal realignment) mean?

Allowing the sea to flood or erode an area of low-value land.

Give one benefit of managed retreat.

The salt marsh created provides a habitat for wildlife and stores water, acting as a buffer against erosion — and it is cheap.

True or false? Beach reprofiling means removing a beach entirely.

False. Reprofiling moves beach material from the lower beach back up to the upper beach, usually after storms.

Give one cost of managed retreat.

Any one of: land such as farmland or buildings is lost to the sea; owners lose income or homes, causing conflict; flooding with seawater can damage existing freshwater habitats.