Coastal Management Case Study

Coastal management case study

There’s rapid erosion along the Holderness coast (about 1.8 metres per year), which has lots of impacts.

1. Homes near the cliffs e.g. in Skipsea are at risk of collapsing into the sea.

2. Businesses are at risk from erosion so people will lose their jobs. E.g Seaside caravan park at Ulrome is loosing an average of 10 pitches a year.

3. The gas terminal at Eastington is at risk (it’s only 25m from the cliff edge)

4. 80000 metres squared of farmland is lost per year.

To try to reduce these effects, 11.4 km of the Holderness coastline has been protected by hard engineering.

1. Bridlington is protected from ______by a 4.7km sea wall as well as wooden groynes

2. There’s a sea wall, wooden groynes and riprap at Hornsea.

3. There are groynes to create wider ______and a sea wall at Withersea. Some of the rip rap was placed in front of the wall after it was damaged in storms in 1992.

4. Defences including two rock groynes were built at Mappleton in 1991. They cost £2million.

5. The eastern side of Spurn Head is protected by groynes and rip rap. This also protects the Humber ______behind Spurn Head.

However, some of these strategies have caused problems elsewhere.

1. The groynes protect ______areas but cause narrow beaches to form ______down the Holderness coast. This increases erosion down the coast e.g. Cowden farm, south of Mappleton is now at risk of falling into the sea.

2. The material produced from the erosion of the Holderness is normally ______south into the Humber estuary. Reducing the amount of material increases the risk of ______in the Humber estuary.

3. The rate of coastal ______along the Lincolnshire coast is also increased because less new material is added.

4. Spurn Head is at risk of being eroded away because less ______is being added to it.

5. Bays are forming between the protected areas and the protected areas are becoming headlands which are being eroded more heavily. This means maintaining the defences is becoming more______.