Topic Summaries

Management strategies to protect coastlines

GCSE > Geography > AQA > GCSE Geography Topic Summaries > Management strategies for coastal landscapes > Management strategies to protect coastlines
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Energy supply

  Hard engineering management strategies
Benefits Costs
Sea walls
  • Very effective barrier
  • Top of wall can be a walkway
  • Very expensive
  • Eyesore
Rock armour
  • Cheap to construct
  • Can be used as for fishing
  • Different rock type may be an eyesore
  • Can be dangerous if not maintained
Gabions
  • Cheaper option
  • Stabilises cliffs and blends in over time
  • Short lifespan and needs maintenance
  • Eyesore
Groynes
  • Cheaper option
  • Builds beaches
  • Increases erosion downstream
  • Needs maintenance

  Soft engineering management strategies
Benefits Costs
Beach nourishment & reprofiling
  • Environmentally friendly
  • Amenity for tourism
  • Cheap, easy to maintain
  • Expensive initial costs
  • People can’t use the beach during maintenance
Dune regeneration
  • Looks natural
  • Increases biodiversity
  • Time-consuming
  • Easily damaged by storms

  Managed retreat management strategies
Benefits Costs
Coastal realignment
  • Controlled process where the sea is allowed to flood or erode low-lying areas to reduce pressure on other parts of the coastline.
  • Embankments are built further inland to protect valuable land (e.g. farms).
  • Flooded areas can create new habitats like salt marshes, which function as natural barriers to absorb wave energy.
  • Cheaper and more sustainable than hard engineering
  • Land is lost to the sea, which can affect farmers and property owners.
  • Relocation of people and infrastructure required

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