14
R.H. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
4.1.2 Coastal Erosion Management
To properly monitor the coast, profiling, at frequent intervals during each year,
has to be undertaken. The profiles should be taken close to protective structures.
Aerial photographs, at a precise scale, can be taken to survey changes in the
shoreline. Observations made from satellites hold a great deal of promise,
Besides the "do-nothing" and the "retreat" approaches, now favored in many
cases, coastal protection may involve building of hard defenses such as groins,
breakwaters, seawalls, the application of soft methods, i.e. artificial nourishment,
or (often) a combination of several methods.
4.2 Environmental Impact
Some fundamental questions must be answered in devizing a protective plan:
what is the genesis and history of the area ?
what is the present state of the system ?
what are the natural evolution trends ?
what will the impact of the proposed action be ?
Once the answers are known, the limits of the natural milieu tolerance, in
relation to the planned installations, must be determined. The follow-up stage,
once a project is completed, monitors the environment's adaptation and reaction.
The understanding of the spatial scale of phenomena requires a site study. The
site's evolution must be explained through the study of a series of parameters
which quite often go beyond the immediate geographic zone. Hence, answers to a
particular problem frequently come from parameters and characteristics
geographically some distance from the site itself. In a similar vein, the
environmental impact may be felt, favorably or otherwise, some distance away
from the site in question.
R.H. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
4.1.2 Coastal Erosion Management
To properly monitor the coast, profiling, at frequent intervals during each year,
has to be undertaken. The profiles should be taken close to protective structures.
Aerial photographs, at a precise scale, can be taken to survey changes in the
shoreline. Observations made from satellites hold a great deal of promise,
Besides the "do-nothing" and the "retreat" approaches, now favored in many
cases, coastal protection may involve building of hard defenses such as groins,
breakwaters, seawalls, the application of soft methods, i.e. artificial nourishment,
or (often) a combination of several methods.
4.2 Environmental Impact
Some fundamental questions must be answered in devizing a protective plan:
what is the genesis and history of the area ?
what is the present state of the system ?
what are the natural evolution trends ?
what will the impact of the proposed action be ?
Once the answers are known, the limits of the natural milieu tolerance, in
relation to the planned installations, must be determined. The follow-up stage,
once a project is completed, monitors the environment's adaptation and reaction.
The understanding of the spatial scale of phenomena requires a site study. The
site's evolution must be explained through the study of a series of parameters
which quite often go beyond the immediate geographic zone. Hence, answers to a
particular problem frequently come from parameters and characteristics
geographically some distance from the site itself. In a similar vein, the
environmental impact may be felt, favorably or otherwise, some distance away
from the site in question.