2B.11A

Question 1

Give examples of hard engineering approaches

Answer 1

groynes, sea walls, rip rap, revetments, offshore breakwaters

Question 2

What are the two main effects of hard engineering

Answer 2

economically costly and directly alter physical processes and systems

Question 3

Pros of sea wall/groynes/recurved sea wall

Answer 3

• Effective – land protected, land stable
• Income will be possible , e.g. From tourism

Question 4

Cons of sea wall/groynes/recurved sea wall

Answer 4

• Expensive, millions of pounds
• Need maintenance continually
• Visual impact is poor – can harm tourism
• Interfere with natural processes, e.g. LSD can prevent beach formation downdrift (terminal groyne syndrome)

Question 5

Pros of beach nourishment/managed retreat

Answer 5

• Works with nature – allows natural processes to work
• Replicates natural environment where possible – means tourism can continue etc.
• Doesn’t damage natural processes

Question 6

Cons of beach nourishment/managed retreat

Answer 6

• Can be ineffective, or need continued resupply of materials
• People can lose homes and land value sharply declines (e.g. With managed retreat)

Question 7

How many people live on the cuaseway coast of portballintrae

Answer 7

734

Question 8

Describe the historic fishing village of portballintrae

Answer 8

• Small fishing pier since 1760
• Damaged by storms in 1830
• Replaced in 1895 and enlarged in 1970

Question 9

Describe fetch right now at portballintrae

Answer 9

Wave fetch from Atlantic, refracted around Ireland

Question 10

Describe growth at portballintrae

Answer 10

Rapid growth since the 1970s
- Mainly 2nd homes
- 3db bungalow = £300,000
- Potentially a Trump Golf Course

Question 11

One bad thing at portballintrae

Answer 11

huge amount of beach removal

Question 12

Describe basic geology at portballintrae

Answer 12

• Reworked glacial sands
• Rocky headlands
• High energy waves (2k km fetch)

Question 13

Main changes over time at portballintrae

Answer 13

• Alterations since 1800s
• Lost 1,000m2/yr
• Sand beaches now very boulder orientated

Question 14

Why hasn’t hard engineering worked:
what processes have been disrupted at portballintrae

Answer 14

• Leslie’s Pier – built in 1760, rebuilt 1895
• by diffracting incoming waves, it’s created a low-energy zone in the shadow
• Therefore, waves attack centre of the bay
• Longshore drift from centre to East, removing sand
• Rip current takes sediment out into deeper water
• Beach is deprived of sandy sediment

Question 15

When should you use hard engineering

Answer 15

• As part of Hold the Line / Advanced the Line
• When the cost of the defences < economic benefits
  E.g. infrastructure – (Easington Gas Terminal / Dawlish railways line
• If there’s political advantage, e.g. not cutting off a community
• If there are coastal habitats / environments worth protecting

BUT: if engineering would damage a sensitive coastal habitats?
OR: if erosion / mass movement rates are very very high?

Question 16

What other methods are being used at portballintrae

Answer 16

• Groynes built in 1904, upgraded and added in 1970s and 1997
• Centre of bay continued to retreat
• Sand nourishment / barrier at the base of the cliffs
• Beach continued to fall

Question 17

What could be used at portballintrae

Answer 17

• EITHER: offshore breakwater in centre of bay (looks ugly)
• OR: remove engineering (too ‘controversial’ for expensive home owners)

Question 18

check out hard engineering descriptions on weebly a levle edexcel geo

Answer 18

dd

Question 19

Pros of hard engineering

Answer 19

-It’s obvious to at-risk people that something is being done to protect them, its reassuring
- A ‘one-off’ solution that could protect a coastline for decades

Question 20

Cons of hard engineering

Answer 20

• Costs are usually very high, and there are still ongoing maintenance costs
• Even very carefully designed engineering solutions are prone to failure
• Coastlines are made visually unattractive and the needs of a coastal ecosystem are usually overlooked
• Defences built in one place frequently have adverse consequences further along the coast