Coastal Protection Measures in Singapore

•  Breakwaters

It is used to help prevent coastal erosion. The most common breakwater used has a core of small rocks or rubble with a covering of large rocks to keep the core from being washed away by the sea.

• Advantages
• prevents beach from getting eroded by destructive waves 
• protects area behind the beach from storm urges

• Disadvantages
• effectiveness decreases as tide level changes
• disrupts process of long-shore drift

Pictures of breakwaters in Singapore:

Credits: pictures adapted from http://13pangsh.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/geography-inquiry-sentosa-singapore/
information adapted from: http://whatiscivilengineering.csce.ca/coastal_breakwaters.htm and http://www.slideshare.net/eeeeeks/coastal-protection-breakwaters

Coastal Protection measures

• Hard engineering

It is the construction of physical structures to protect the coasts from the erosive power of waves

 Example of Hard engineering: Wire cages containing small rocks are used to form walls to protect coast. This method is cheap butat the same time, this also ruins the natural beauty of the coast, easily destroyed by powerful waves and the wires will rust.

• Soft engineering

It is the use of ecological principles to reduce erosion and to attain the stabilization and safety of the shorelines, while beautifying habitats, improving aesthetics and saving money.

Example of soft engineering: Sand dunes, it also provides habitats for animals like migratory birds. We stabilize these dunes by planting vegetation on them.


Credits: http://olevelgeography.blogspot.com/2008/05/coast-soft-engineering-growth-of-coral.html
http://www.slideshare.net/guestaeb4fc1/coastal-protection-soft-engineering
http://www.slideshare.net/vickikoh/coastal-management-4

Coastal Management

Proper Coastal Management and Protection are needed to protect the quality of coastal environment.
The coast might erode if not taken care of properly.

coastal erosion

Credits: http://www.slideshare.net/vickikoh/coastal-management-4
picture taken from: http://cgz.e2bn.net/e2bn/leas/c99/schools/cgz/accounts/staff/rchambers/GeoBytes/GCSE%20Revision/Unit%201/Coasts/Coastal%20Images/Coastal_Erosion.gif