Hard engineering strategies like sea walls, rock armor, groynes, and gabions are used to protect coastal areas from storm waves and erosion. These structures work by blocking and reflecting wave energy to prevent beaches and cliffs from being worn away. While providing flood protection and maintaining tourist beaches, hard engineering options are often very expensive to build and maintain and can negatively impact coastal habitats and restrict public access.

1. Big Picture
Hard engineering
• Research task
Practice Question
• 6 mark question
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering
management strategies.
Hard engineering
 the use of concrete and
large artificial structures
by civil engineers to
defend land against
natural erosion
processes.
Key Vocabulary
Page 106 - 107
23 May 2019

2.  You can describe the costs and benefits of hard engineering management
strategies.
 You use a limited range of specialist terms
 You have a reasonable accuracy in the use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
 You can compare the costs and benefits of hard engineering
management strategies.
 You use a good range of specialist terms
 You have a considerable accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar.
 You assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
 You use a wide range of specialist terms where appropriate.
 Accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Learning Outcomes – Success Criteria
L3 - Detailed
Answer
L2 - Clear
Answer
L1 - Basic
Answer
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

4. Hard engineering options tend to be expensive, short-term
options
They may also have a high impact on the landscape or
environment and be unsustainable.
Managing coasts - hard
engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
What is Hard Engineering?

5. In each section of your data collection sheet you
must include:
1. A sketch
2.How it works
3.Advantages
4.Disadvantages
Researching and comparing methods of defence
Managing coasts - hard
engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

6. Sea Wall
A sea wall is a concrete or rock barrier against the sea, placed at
the foot of cliffs or at the top of a beach. Has a curved face to
reflect the waves back into the sea.
It cost around £5000 - £10000 per metre.
A sea wall gives people a sense of security and often has walkway
for people to walk along.
Sea walls are very expensive and encounter high maintenance
costs.
Sea walls restrict peoples access to the beach and if waves break
over the sea wall (overtopping), coastal flooding may occur.
From the beach, a sea wall is ugly to look at. Sea walls may also
destroy habitats.
Sea walls do not impede the movement of sediment down drift, so
they do not disadvantage other areas.
If well maintained, they can be effective for many years making the
cost worthwhile.
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

7. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
Sea Wall

8. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

9. Groynes
Groynes are relatively cheap at £5000 each and if well maintained, can last up to 40 years.
Groynes are barriers which impede walking along a beach. They are also dangerous, as they have
deep water on one side and shallow on the other. This is a particular hazard to children who
might climb on them.
A larger beach, with more space for activities attracts more tourists which boosts the local
economy.
Rock groynes at Sandbanks, Poole, have concrete crests for people to walk along to reach a
viewing or fishing point. Groynes also act as windbreaks.
Groynes may be considered unattractive, especially old and degraded ones.
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

10. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
Groynes

11. Managing coasts - hard
engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

12. Rock Armour
Rock armour is relatively cheap and costs around £1000-£3000 a metre, compared to £5000 a
metre for a sea wall.
Rock armour makes access to the beach difficult as people have to clamber over it or make long
detours. People may have accidents when clambering over them as they are unstable and
sometimes slippery.
High resistant rocks from Norway and Sweden are often used in preference to rocks from local
quarries. This may cause resentment and it inflates the cost considerably. Also, money needs to
be spent on regularly maintaining the rocks as during large storms, they may be moved.
Rock armour is ugly and it often covers vast areas of a beach. Driftwood and litter become
trapped in the structure.
Imported rocks do not blend in with the local geology.
Rock armour is often used for fishing.
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

13. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
Rock Armour

14. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

15. Gabions
Gabions are relatively cheap at £110 a metre and they are easy to construct.
For the cost, they are good value for money, as they may last 20-25 years.
In a damaged state, gabions are dangerous. People may trip over them or cut themselves on the
broken steel wire mesh.
The use of gabions is restricted to sandy beaches as the shingle and pebbles hurled at them on
pebble beaches would quickly degrade them. Gabions are easily destroyed, so regular
maintenance is needed. In 2010 it cost £30 000 to repair the gabions damaged by storms.
Damaged gabions are visually unappealing, and seabirds may damage their feet in them.
Although unnatural, they can become visually appealing if vegetated and looked after. This may
attract people to the area.
Managing coasts - hard
engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

16. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
Gabions

17. Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
COMMAND WORD
Explain: Give reasons why something happens. Answers
should set out the causes of a phenomenon and/or the
factors which influence its form/nature. This usually
requires an understanding of processes. Explanation is a
higher-level skill than description and this is often reflected
in its greater mark weighting. Set out purposes or reasons
KEY WORDS:
Sea wall
Rock armour
Gabions
Groynes
Longshore drift
Energy
Waves
DestructiveMark Scheme
Level 1 (Basic) 1-2 marks - Begins to explain. Statements are
simple and separate.
Level 2 (Clear) 3-4 marks – Clear explanation. Statements
are developed.
Level 3 (Detailed) 5-6 marks – Clear explanation. Statements
are developed and linked. Appropriate terminology used
throughout.
Exam Practice: Explain how hard engineering is used to protect coastal
areas from the effects of storm waves. [6 marks]

18. Use the model
answer that you
have been given:
1. Glue it in the
centre of a page
2. Around the edge
point out good
features about
the answer
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.

19. Produced by Mr M Colclough
5) Evaluate how sustainable this protection method is
1) Identify the type of hard
engineering -
2) Describe how this stops the coast from eroding.
3) Explain how this method has
benefits for local people and the
environment.
4) Explain how this method could bring
problems for the local people and the
environment.
Managing coasts - hard engineering
LO: To assess the costs and benefits of hard engineering management strategies.
Complete this
extension task
evaluating a
seawall.