What is a coastal revetment?
Revetments are sloping structures built on embankments or shorelines, along the base of cliffs, or in front of sea walls to absorb and dissipate the energy of waves in order to reduce coastal erosion.
What is a revetment in geography?
Revetments: wooden, steel, or concrete fence-like structures that allow sea water and sediment to pass through, but the structures absorb wave energy. A beach can build up behind the revetment and provide further protection for the cliff. These are used as part of coastal defences.
What does revetment wall mean?
A revetment wall is a permanent structure designed to prevent the types of subsidence that commonly occur adjacent to waterways and the ocean. By definition, it is a protective covering on an embankment of earth designed to maintain the slope or to protect it from erosion.
What is revetment in civil engineering?
In stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering, revetments are sloping structures placed on banks or cliffs in such a way as to absorb the energy of incoming water. In military engineering they are sloped structures formed to secure an area from artillery, bombing, or stored explosives.
What are the pros and cons of revetments?
Revetments (Hard engineering)
| Advantages Absorb wave energy through the slats Effective for many years Can be cheap compared to other techniques | Disadvantages Not effective in stormy conditions Can make the beach inaccessible for tourists Regular maintenance is required Visually obtrusive |
| Evaluation Used in Happisburgh |
What is the purpose of revetment in Harbour construction?
River or coastal revetments are usually built to preserve the existing uses of the shoreline and to protect the slope, as defense against erosion.
How are revetments used to protect the coast?
A revetment is thus a passive coastal protection measure and is used at locations exposed to erosion or as a supplement to seawalls or dikes at locations exposed to both erosion and flooding. Revetments are used on all types of coasts. Rubble revetments and similar structures have a permeable and fairly steep slope; normally a 1:2 slope is used.
Can a revetment be used as a seawall?
However, as a revetment is often made as a permeable, sloping structure, it will normally not accelerate the erosion, as did seawalls; on the contrary, rubble revetments are often used as reinforcement for seawalls which have been exposed due to the disappearance of the beach.
Can a revetment fix the location of the beach?
A revetment will fix the location of the coastline, but it will not arrest the ongoing erosion in the coastal profile, and the beach in front of the revetment will gradually disappear.
When do you need to use a revetment?
A revetment is thus a passive coastal protection measure and is used at locations exposed to erosion or as a supplement to seawalls or dikes at locations exposed to both erosion and flooding. Revetments are used on all types of coasts, however mainly types 1 – 4.