Environmental aspects of using detached breakwaters for coastal protection purposes

Abstract

The aggravation of erosion, with the consequent reduction and, at the limit, disappearance of beaches has great impact in the environment of the area, in tourism and economy of regions affected by this problem. Submerged breakwaters are one possible solution from a wide variety of coastal structures to combat this problem, with reduced environmental and visual impacts than in similar defence structures. However, this solution has also some disadvantages that will be described. This paper intends to present some environmental aspects related with the hydrodynamic phenomena of detached breakwaters (submerged or not) and some of the main advantages and disadvantages of this type of coastal protection solution. The performance of this kind of solution in other countries (such as Italy, Japan, Spain, etc.) has been mostly successful but its use on the Portuguese coast is still a possibility, needing further investigation, due to the high energetic wave levels observed. Some of the main difficulties on its application will also be described.

Citation

Taveira Pinto, F. and Valente Neves, A.C. (2004), "Environmental aspects of using detached breakwaters for coastal protection purposes", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 62-71. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777830410513621