levees, or as more complex armored layers of rock or
interlocking man-made elements on top of a soil slope.
Figure 1c shows a seawall creatively camouflaged as a
natural rock along with a rock revetment which is
protecting community housing.
Self-closing flood control structures
To prevent damages to large coastal populations when
high river or sea water levels can inundate large areas,
self-closing flood control structures are designed. The
Netherlands has extensive experience in this specialty of
coastal engineering with the design and construction of
the 13-segment dam and flood barrier system instituted
with the Deltaworks plan in 1953. Both the size of the
protected population and the community’s contribution
to a nation’s economy must be evaluated and compared
to the high cost of this type of protection (Hatheway,
2008).
Setback or relocation
When a community has experienced high damages from
multiple extreme coastal events within one generation, a
community can choose to relocate structures or infrastructure inland from the shoreline. Hatteras Lighthouse, a historic coastal structure subject to repeated erosion
detaching it from the natural North Carolina shoreline,
was moved 1.1 km inland (Tice and Knott, 2000). The
downtown area of Hilo, HI, was relocated and replaced
with a planned tsunami inundation area after the population experienced the tsunamis of 1946 and 1960
(Hwang, 2011).
Summary and conclusions
A good coastal engineer balances the customer’s requirements to prevent coastal erosion, using sound science
and practical engineering with a sensitivity to coastal
ecology.
While the specific techniques used to forecast environmental conditions and develop components of a coastal
design are continuously updated (US Army Corps of
Engineers, 2002; CIRIA, 2007), a coastal engineer should
have a flexible design philosophy balancing the known
and unknown scientific data for a site with engineering
analysis under an experienced hand (Dean and Dalrymple,
2002).
Bibliography
Construction Industry Research & Information Association
(CIRIA), CUR, and CETMEF, 2007. The Rock Manual. The
Use of Rock in Hydraulic Engineering. London: CIRIA.
Dean, R. G., and Dalrymple, R. A., 2002. Coastal Processes with
Engineering Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Jones, C., Broker, I., Coulton, K., Gangai, J., Hatheway, D., Lowe,
J., Noble, R., and Srinivas, R., 2005. Wave Run-up and
Overtopping FEMA Coastal Flood Analysis and Mapping
Guidelines Focused Study Report. Washington, DC: FEMA.
Hatheway, D.,, 2008. Assessment of international coastal flood protection levels for disaster mitigation. In Solutions to Coastal
Disasters 2008. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers.
Healy, T., Yang, W., and Healy, J.-A. (eds.), 2000. Muddy Coasts of
the World: Processes, Deposits and Function. Amsterdam:
Elsevier Science B.V.
Hughes, S. A., 1993. Physical Models and Laboratory Techniques
in Coastal Engineering. Singapore: World Scientific.
Hwang, D., 2011. Disaster recovery planning: lessons learned from
past events. In Proceedings, Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2011.
Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2014. Assessment Report on Climate Change 2014 Synthesis (AR5). Geneva:
IPCC.
Kraus, N. C. (ed.), 1996. History and Heritage of Coastal Engineering. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Kraus, N. C., 2005. Coastal inlet functional design: anticipating
morphologic response. In Coastal Dynamics. Reston, VA:
American Society of Civil Engineers.
Kriebel, D. L., and Dean, R. G., 1985. Numerical simulation of
time-dependent beach and dune erosion. Coastal Engineering,
9(3), 221–245. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers.
NOAA, U.S. Census Bureau, 2013. National Coastal Population
Report. Washington, DC: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Tice, J., and Knott, R., 2000. Relocation of the Cape Hatteras Light
station: move route design and construction. In Soil-Cement and
Other Construction Practices in Geotechnical Engineering.
Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 51–66.
United Nations Population Division, 2010. World Population Project. New York: Department of Economic & Social Affairs.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, (USACE). 2002. Coastal Engineering Manual. Engineer Manual 1110-2-1100. Washington, DC:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (in 6 volumes).
Walker, R., Bendell, B., and Wallendorf, L., 2011. Defining engineering guidance for living shoreline projects. In Coastal Engineering Practice. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers, pp. 1064–1077.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coasts
Engineered Coasts
Sea Walls/Revetments
COASTS
Charles W. Finkl
Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University,
Boca Raton, FL, USA
The Coastal Education and Research Foundation,
Coconut Creek, FL, USA
Synonyms
Bank; Beach; Coastline; Coastal area; Coastal zone;
Littoral; Margin; Seaboard; Seacoast; Seashore; Seaside;
Shore; Shoreline; Strand
COASTS
103
interlocking man-made elements on top of a soil slope.
Figure 1c shows a seawall creatively camouflaged as a
natural rock along with a rock revetment which is
protecting community housing.
Self-closing flood control structures
To prevent damages to large coastal populations when
high river or sea water levels can inundate large areas,
self-closing flood control structures are designed. The
Netherlands has extensive experience in this specialty of
coastal engineering with the design and construction of
the 13-segment dam and flood barrier system instituted
with the Deltaworks plan in 1953. Both the size of the
protected population and the community’s contribution
to a nation’s economy must be evaluated and compared
to the high cost of this type of protection (Hatheway,
2008).
Setback or relocation
When a community has experienced high damages from
multiple extreme coastal events within one generation, a
community can choose to relocate structures or infrastructure inland from the shoreline. Hatteras Lighthouse, a historic coastal structure subject to repeated erosion
detaching it from the natural North Carolina shoreline,
was moved 1.1 km inland (Tice and Knott, 2000). The
downtown area of Hilo, HI, was relocated and replaced
with a planned tsunami inundation area after the population experienced the tsunamis of 1946 and 1960
(Hwang, 2011).
Summary and conclusions
A good coastal engineer balances the customer’s requirements to prevent coastal erosion, using sound science
and practical engineering with a sensitivity to coastal
ecology.
While the specific techniques used to forecast environmental conditions and develop components of a coastal
design are continuously updated (US Army Corps of
Engineers, 2002; CIRIA, 2007), a coastal engineer should
have a flexible design philosophy balancing the known
and unknown scientific data for a site with engineering
analysis under an experienced hand (Dean and Dalrymple,
2002).
Bibliography
Construction Industry Research & Information Association
(CIRIA), CUR, and CETMEF, 2007. The Rock Manual. The
Use of Rock in Hydraulic Engineering. London: CIRIA.
Dean, R. G., and Dalrymple, R. A., 2002. Coastal Processes with
Engineering Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Jones, C., Broker, I., Coulton, K., Gangai, J., Hatheway, D., Lowe,
J., Noble, R., and Srinivas, R., 2005. Wave Run-up and
Overtopping FEMA Coastal Flood Analysis and Mapping
Guidelines Focused Study Report. Washington, DC: FEMA.
Hatheway, D.,, 2008. Assessment of international coastal flood protection levels for disaster mitigation. In Solutions to Coastal
Disasters 2008. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers.
Healy, T., Yang, W., and Healy, J.-A. (eds.), 2000. Muddy Coasts of
the World: Processes, Deposits and Function. Amsterdam:
Elsevier Science B.V.
Hughes, S. A., 1993. Physical Models and Laboratory Techniques
in Coastal Engineering. Singapore: World Scientific.
Hwang, D., 2011. Disaster recovery planning: lessons learned from
past events. In Proceedings, Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2011.
Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2014. Assessment Report on Climate Change 2014 Synthesis (AR5). Geneva:
IPCC.
Kraus, N. C. (ed.), 1996. History and Heritage of Coastal Engineering. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Kraus, N. C., 2005. Coastal inlet functional design: anticipating
morphologic response. In Coastal Dynamics. Reston, VA:
American Society of Civil Engineers.
Kriebel, D. L., and Dean, R. G., 1985. Numerical simulation of
time-dependent beach and dune erosion. Coastal Engineering,
9(3), 221–245. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers.
NOAA, U.S. Census Bureau, 2013. National Coastal Population
Report. Washington, DC: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Tice, J., and Knott, R., 2000. Relocation of the Cape Hatteras Light
station: move route design and construction. In Soil-Cement and
Other Construction Practices in Geotechnical Engineering.
Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 51–66.
United Nations Population Division, 2010. World Population Project. New York: Department of Economic & Social Affairs.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, (USACE). 2002. Coastal Engineering Manual. Engineer Manual 1110-2-1100. Washington, DC:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (in 6 volumes).
Walker, R., Bendell, B., and Wallendorf, L., 2011. Defining engineering guidance for living shoreline projects. In Coastal Engineering Practice. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil
Engineers, pp. 1064–1077.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coasts
Engineered Coasts
Sea Walls/Revetments
COASTS
Charles W. Finkl
Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University,
Boca Raton, FL, USA
The Coastal Education and Research Foundation,
Coconut Creek, FL, USA
Synonyms
Bank; Beach; Coastline; Coastal area; Coastal zone;
Littoral; Margin; Seaboard; Seacoast; Seashore; Seaside;
Shore; Shoreline; Strand
COASTS
103