Journal - ASR Limited: Marine Consulting

Entries in coastal erosion (9)

Wednesday

Jan192011

Coastal Erosion and Seawalls in India

The west coast of India has tremendous coastal resources but is also an erosional hotspot. Significant coastal population and spotted infrastructure development meet severe environmental conditions like monsoons season, sea level rise, beach retreat, port construction or mangrove destruction in a complicated battle.

In India, coastal erosion is becoming the subject of more and more focus and interest. While the solution in the past has been primarily seawalls, the local population is beginning to see that they often cause more problems than they solve. We wanted to highlight a short article recently featured in the Times of India by Professor Jayappa of Mangalore University.

From Times of India: Sea walls are no solution to erosion: "Beaches belong to everyone. They are the playgrounds of waves of the sea. 'We should make efforts to preserve our beaches. Hence we should think of going for green walls instead of sea wall. Sand mining at sea shores should be completely banned,' said Prof Jayappa, department of marine geology, Mangalore University, on Monday."

"Removing sand and shells are also dangerous, from the angle of preservation of sea beaches. Jayappa observed our East coast is endowed with larger quantity of sediments than the Western Coast. 'We are spending over Rs 300 million only for dredging. Sea wall making is a money spinning business.'"

This is an argument that ASR uses a lot in educating people on the purpose and benefits of Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef. In fact, one of ASR's founders is an Indian citizen and lives in Kerala. Our business witnesses the effects of severe coastal erosion on coastal populations everyday. When you're targeting your business towards sustainable coastal management solutions, we figure it makes sense to attack where the problems are worse.

Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef in the Hindu

A short article on Multi-Purpose Reef was recently published in the "Hindu," one of India's major newspapers.

"The multipurpose artificial reef installed off the beach here has emerged as an innovative form of coastal protection, helping to improve the tourist potential of the State.

The reef has demonstrated its potential to protect the severely eroding coast from the waves unleashed by the monsoon. Resort owners and hoteliers are excited at the prospect of an extended tourist season.

Installed between the lighthouse and the Edakkal rocks off the beach, the reef has been able to protect the beach by mimicking natural reef structures and working in concert with nature.

Being off-shore and submerged, there is no visual impact. Within months, the reef has been able to stabilise the famed beach and make it wider on the lighthouse side by cushioning the impact of the waves."

Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef Update, July 2010

Halfway through monsoon season, Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef is working to protect Lighthouse Beach in Kovalam, India. The visual results are encouraging and consistent with ASR’s modeled beach salient predictions.

In the image bellow, a powerful wave breaks on Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef, dissipating swell energy across the entire length of the reef.

Traditionally, erosion is most severe on the southern end of Lighthouse Beach (lower right hand corner). Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef is having a substantial effect on sediment retention in this area and we are also seeing accretion in the middle of Lighthouse beach.

June 2010

July 2010

Clean wave breaking across Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef - July 2010

Before and After

August 2009 July 2010

Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef continues to show encouraging results during monsoon season as predicted by ASR’s sediment transport modeling. Demonstrating that Multi-Purpose Reefs provide substantial coastal erosion prevention.

Kovalam Multi-Purpose Reef is an innovative solution for coastal protection and the beach retreat problems experienced in India. Thirty percent of India’s mainland population lives on the coast and relies on the health and security of the coastal environment. In Kerala, some 600 km of coastline is encased by 400 km of rock walls, leading to accelerated beach retreat.

Multi-Purpose Reefs have the following benefits:
-Protect the coast by dissipating wave energy
-Provide marine habitat
-Create a recreational amenity
-Promote socioeconomic prosperity

ASR continues to promote environmentally sensitive coastal protection options that value coastal resources and local interests.