Global warming, melting polar caps, rising sea levels and intensifying wave-current action, factors responsible for the alarming phenomena of coastal erosion on the one hand and adverse environmental impacts and the high cost of 'hard' protection schemes, on the other, have created interest in the detailed examination of the potential and range of applicability of the emerging and promising category of 'soft' shore protection methods. 'Soft' methods such as beach nourishment, submerged breakwaters, artificial reefs, gravity drain systems, floating breakwaters, plantations of hydrophylous shrubs or even dry branches, applied mostly during the past 20 years, are recognised as possessing technical, environmental and financial advantageous properties deserving more attention and further developmental experimentation than has occured hitherto. On the other hand, 'hard' shore protection methods such as seawalls, groins and detached breakwaters, artefacts borrowed from port design and construction technology, no matter how well designed and well implemented they may be, can hardly avoid intensification of the consequential erosive, often devastating, effects on the down-drift shores. Moreover, they often do not constitute environmentally and financially attractive solutions for long stretches of eroding shoreline. Engineers and scientists practising design and implementation of shore defence schemes have been aware for many years of the public demand for improved shore protection technologies. They are encouraging efforts that promise enrichment of those environmentally sound and financially attractive methods that can be safely applied.

Like ocean beaches, sheltered coastal areas experience land loss from erosion and sea level rise. In response, property owners often install hard structures such as bulkheads as a way to prevent further erosion, but these structures cause changes in the coastal environment that alter landscapes, reduce public access and recreational opportunities, diminish natural habitats, and harm species that depend on these habitats for shelter and food. Mitigating Shore Erosion Along Sheltered Coasts recommends coastal planning efforts and permitting policies to encourage landowners to use erosion control alternatives that help retain the natural features of coastal shorelines.

This new Encyclopedia of Coastal Science stands as the latest authoritative source in the field of coastal studies, making it the standard reference work for specialists and the interested lay person. Unique in its interdisciplinary approach. This Encyclopedia features contributions by 245 well-known international specialists in their respective fields and is abundantly illustrated with line-drawings and photographs. Not only does this volume offer an extensive number of entries, it also includes various appendices, an illustrated glossary of coastal morphology and extensive bibliographic listings.

Living Shorelines: The Science and Management of Nature-based Coastal Protection compiles, synthesizes and interprets the current state of the knowledge on the science and practice of nature-based shoreline protection. This book will serve as a valuable reference to guide scientists, students, managers, planners, regulators, environmental and engineering consultants, and others engaged in the design and implementation of living shorelines. This volume provides a background and history of living shorelines, understandings on management, policy, and project designs, technical synthesis of the science related to living shorelines including insights from new studies, and the identification of research needs, lessons learned, and perspectives on future guidance. Makes recommendations on the correct usage of the term living shorelines Offers guidance for shoreline management in the future Includes lessons learned from the practice of shoreline restoration/conservation Synthesizes regional perspectives to identify strategies for the successful design and implementation of living shorelines Reviews specific design criteria for successful implementation of living shorelines Provides detailed discussions of social, regulatory, scientific and technical considerations to justify and design living shoreline projects International perspectives are presented from leading researchers and managers in the East, West and Gulf coasts of the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia that are working on natural approaches to shoreline management. The broad geographic scope and interdisciplinary nature of contributing authors will help to facilitate dialogue and transfer knowledge among different disciplines and across different regions. This book provides coastal communities with the scientific foundation and practical guidance necessary to implement effective shoreline management that enhances ecosystem services and coastal resilience now and into the future.

Text on coastal engineering and oceanography covering theory and applications intended to mitigate shoreline erosion.

The shift from hard shore to soft shore protection has been an impetus to further our understanding of coastal processes and to develop effective, environmentally friendly, and low-cost defence strategies against the erosive sea action. This collection of application-oriented contributions on Soft Shore Protection represents a milestone for environmental coastal engineering science and technology. It covers, among other subjects, nourishing techniques and light structures that slow down or even eliminate erosion, as well as possibilities that coastal management authorities and specialists need to know. Audience: Scientists at engineering, earth sciences and oceanography faculties and institutions will find essential information on this new, expanding field. This volume resulting from the Soft Shore Protection Conference 2000 is directed to educators, students, design coastal engineers, contractors, and national and local coast managers around the world.

Coast lines have been and still are the central lines of civilization around the world with still increasing pressure from both sides – the hinterland and the sea – with all its foreseeable and unforeseeable impacts by means of nature or mankind. While the response of nature to such impacts is flexible in the way that all morphological changes with all the consequences are tolerated as part of the system, humanity cannot tolerate short-term or long-term changes without being threatened in its physical and economical existence. The objectives of this Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on Environmentally Friendly Coastal Structures were: - to contribute to the critical assessment of existing knowledge in the field of coastal and environmental protection; - to identify directions for future research in that area; - to promote close working relationships between scientists from different countries and with different professional experience. The latest trends in research on coastal and environmental protection were summarized and developed during the meeting. Seventeen papers are presented in this book, attempting to cover all related aspects as completely as possible – coast, engineering structures, water, sediments, ecosystems in their complicated interaction.

The purpose of this report is to familiarize engineers and contractors with various establishedmethods of low cost shore protection. It is written for the individual who is knowledgeable in generalcivil engineering design and construction, but not a specialist in coastal engineering or shorelineprotection. This report can be used without other references, but many topics are discussed with onlyminimal detail, so some additional reading may be necessary to gain a better understanding of the text.The Suggested Readingsection at the end of the report lists a full range of readily available books, reports, and publications that are recommended for additional background study

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