174
R.H. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
The rise in water level is a major cause of the phenomenon but anthropic actions
have also played an important part.
Stopping coastal erosion and halting shoreline retreat is considered impossible.
Reducing the rate of erosion and restoring endangered areas, on the other hand,
falls within the reach of coastal engineers.
In February 1989, three streets, three blocks and seven rows of houses were
abandoned in Sargent Beach TX, after a losing battle against erosion. In Am61ie,
a subdivision of Soulac, France several planned streets are now in an area
covered by the sea and the present church is doomed to be engulfed within a few
years.
The United States government has, for several decades, provided "catastrophe"
insurance for constructions destroyed by storms or placed in jeopardy by coastal
erosion. It has financed, to a considerable extent, protective devices such as
groins, sea-walls, breakwaters, and has undertaken artificial dune building and
beach nourishment. However, in a rather recent policy reversal, it now has
embarked on a "laissez-faire" approach, that is an attitude of "let nature take its
course". Several states have adopted a similar attitude. Retreat form the shoreline
is advocated, and sometimes financially encouraged (as in the State of Michigan).
Construction set-back lines are advised or even enforced.
Such measures are conceivable where summer cottages line the shore, or even
where touristic interests and investments are modest. On barrier islands off the
Carolina coast there are hardly any takers for $ 250,000 houses discounted at one
third off. A situation no different from that in the late fifties along the Atlantic
coast of Long Island (N.Y.).
However, one can hardly imagine letting Miami Beach FL, Atlantic City NJ or
Ocean City MD slowly "slide into the sea". The economic consequences would be
of such magnitude that protective, and restorative measures, are required. If
"hard" structures do not offer the appropriate solution, then "soft medicine"
might be prescribed. The alternatives will be discussed further on.
A major effort to assess the damage brought about by erosion along the coasts of
a large sector of Europe is known as the CORINE "Coastal erosion project". A
part of the CORINE (Coordinated Information on the Environment), an activity
of the European Union (EU), it is an inventory of coastal erosion problems and
high risk coastal areas in the EU.
R.H. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
The rise in water level is a major cause of the phenomenon but anthropic actions
have also played an important part.
Stopping coastal erosion and halting shoreline retreat is considered impossible.
Reducing the rate of erosion and restoring endangered areas, on the other hand,
falls within the reach of coastal engineers.
In February 1989, three streets, three blocks and seven rows of houses were
abandoned in Sargent Beach TX, after a losing battle against erosion. In Am61ie,
a subdivision of Soulac, France several planned streets are now in an area
covered by the sea and the present church is doomed to be engulfed within a few
years.
The United States government has, for several decades, provided "catastrophe"
insurance for constructions destroyed by storms or placed in jeopardy by coastal
erosion. It has financed, to a considerable extent, protective devices such as
groins, sea-walls, breakwaters, and has undertaken artificial dune building and
beach nourishment. However, in a rather recent policy reversal, it now has
embarked on a "laissez-faire" approach, that is an attitude of "let nature take its
course". Several states have adopted a similar attitude. Retreat form the shoreline
is advocated, and sometimes financially encouraged (as in the State of Michigan).
Construction set-back lines are advised or even enforced.
Such measures are conceivable where summer cottages line the shore, or even
where touristic interests and investments are modest. On barrier islands off the
Carolina coast there are hardly any takers for $ 250,000 houses discounted at one
third off. A situation no different from that in the late fifties along the Atlantic
coast of Long Island (N.Y.).
However, one can hardly imagine letting Miami Beach FL, Atlantic City NJ or
Ocean City MD slowly "slide into the sea". The economic consequences would be
of such magnitude that protective, and restorative measures, are required. If
"hard" structures do not offer the appropriate solution, then "soft medicine"
might be prescribed. The alternatives will be discussed further on.
A major effort to assess the damage brought about by erosion along the coasts of
a large sector of Europe is known as the CORINE "Coastal erosion project". A
part of the CORINE (Coordinated Information on the Environment), an activity
of the European Union (EU), it is an inventory of coastal erosion problems and
high risk coastal areas in the EU.