34
Remarks
R.H.C. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
The above figures are based on a United Nations worldwide study and are only
meant as a first rough estimation of the needed responsive measures to the
assumed sea-level rise. They call for corrections based on a more refined and
detailed study at the country level.
Protection works consist of civil engineering structures, such as beach
replenishment, dikes, revetments, closure dams and elevation of very low areas ;
As to the design conditions of these civil engineering works, the following
description serves as a basic concept. Starting point for the protection measures
considered here is maintaining the present protection level of human beings and
infrastructure in the coastal zone at risk. (Coastal zone "hazards" were the topic
of a French Ministry of the Enviromnent colloquium ; cf. Minist6re de
l'Environnement-Dtltgation aux Risques Majeurs, 1988, Actes du Colloque lvler
et Littoral - Couple dt Risques ; Biarritz, Sept. 1987 : Paris, La Documentation
Franqaise (565 pp.). As an example, the above formulated starting point implies
for a region protected by dikes, assuming that other conditions remain the same,
a raising of dikes approximately equal to the rise of sea level, This starting point
often does not coincide with optimal coastal protection and may even leave
coastal regions with too low a protection level. In particular this is the case for
coastal zones which at present are insufficiently protected due, for example, to
recent land occupation or subsidence. These situations ask for a solution, but in
principle this is independent of sea level-rise.
A reduction in the scope is that only civil engineering aspects of these protection
measures are considered. Institutional, legal and technical aspects, all essential to
maintain infrastructural integrity', are not considered, nor are their costs, which
might be substantial.
Cultural and environmental aspects, such as the impact of sea-level rise on
coastal wetlands, should be considered as well. Socio-economic aspects are, in the
present study, reduced to the costs for construction of the civil engineering works.
Sociological Impact Assessments (SIA) are commonly part of an impact report.
Remarks
R.H.C. Charlier and Chr. P. De Meyer
The above figures are based on a United Nations worldwide study and are only
meant as a first rough estimation of the needed responsive measures to the
assumed sea-level rise. They call for corrections based on a more refined and
detailed study at the country level.
Protection works consist of civil engineering structures, such as beach
replenishment, dikes, revetments, closure dams and elevation of very low areas ;
As to the design conditions of these civil engineering works, the following
description serves as a basic concept. Starting point for the protection measures
considered here is maintaining the present protection level of human beings and
infrastructure in the coastal zone at risk. (Coastal zone "hazards" were the topic
of a French Ministry of the Enviromnent colloquium ; cf. Minist6re de
l'Environnement-Dtltgation aux Risques Majeurs, 1988, Actes du Colloque lvler
et Littoral - Couple dt Risques ; Biarritz, Sept. 1987 : Paris, La Documentation
Franqaise (565 pp.). As an example, the above formulated starting point implies
for a region protected by dikes, assuming that other conditions remain the same,
a raising of dikes approximately equal to the rise of sea level, This starting point
often does not coincide with optimal coastal protection and may even leave
coastal regions with too low a protection level. In particular this is the case for
coastal zones which at present are insufficiently protected due, for example, to
recent land occupation or subsidence. These situations ask for a solution, but in
principle this is independent of sea level-rise.
A reduction in the scope is that only civil engineering aspects of these protection
measures are considered. Institutional, legal and technical aspects, all essential to
maintain infrastructural integrity', are not considered, nor are their costs, which
might be substantial.
Cultural and environmental aspects, such as the impact of sea-level rise on
coastal wetlands, should be considered as well. Socio-economic aspects are, in the
present study, reduced to the costs for construction of the civil engineering works.
Sociological Impact Assessments (SIA) are commonly part of an impact report.