Headlands and Groins: Replicating Natural Systems

California is the most populous state in the nation, and 80 percent of its 35 million people now live within 50 km. of the coast. Beaches play a major role in the state's economy as recreational outlets and vacation destinations but also serve to buffer developed coastal bluffs and cliffs from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of coastal research 2004-01, p.280-293
Main Author: Griggs, Gary B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beaches
Cliffs
Coasts
Dams
Harbors
Headlands
Jetties
Littoral transport
Monitoring and Field Measurements
Sand
Shorelines
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Summary:California is the most populous state in the nation, and 80 percent of its 35 million people now live within 50 km. of the coast. Beaches play a major role in the state's economy as recreational outlets and vacation destinations but also serve to buffer developed coastal bluffs and cliffs from direct wave attack. A reduction of beach sand supply has taken place over the past several decades due to a combination of dams on coastal streams, armoring of eroding seacliffs, mining of sand directly from river beds as well as the shoreline and the reduction in large sand contributions from coastal construction projects. The most common historical response to both seasonal beach erosion and long-term shoreline retreat in California has been seawalls and rip-rap. In recent years beach nourishment has been advocated by local government and the tourist industry as a solution to shoreline erosion and beach losses. More recently, the concept of removing dams which no longer serve any useful purpose and have trapped large volumes of beach sand have begun to be seriously evaluated. Groins have been successfully used in California to create, widen or stabilize beaches. Many of California's beaches exist because of natural littoral drift barriers such as headlands and a number owe their existence to artificial barriers such as groins, jetties and breakwaters. Groins mimic natural features and with appropriate planning, can be used more extensively to hold the sand on California's beaches in place, thereby increasing both shoreline protection and recreational areas at far less maintenance, cost and with less negative environmental impact than either armoring or artificial nourishment.
ISSN:0749-0208
1551-5036