Coastal Erosion - Easington (Easington District Council)

Name: jac22

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Product:	Easington District Council
Date:	10.02.08 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Protects the town

Disadvantages: cost

The town of Easington and its gas terminal on the Holderness coast are a subject of debate as to what method of coastal management should be introduced, considering the town, the station, and the need for protection of the famous Spurn head to the south.

Due to the crumbly, soft, boulder clay rocks on this area of coastline, the cliff is eroding at a rate of 0.94-5.6m a year. This is mainly down to the processes of marine erosion, and particularly mass movement processes. For example, the falling of rocks due to the cliff being undercut by the sea, mudflows due to rain, and most of all: slumping. This occurs, when rapid marine process such as abrasion (rocks carried in load bash into cliff face, chipping off other rocks, which then add to the load, continuing the process), causes the cliff to undercut. In turn, a slip plane will then form, due to cracks in the boulder clay, which is then lubricated by rain, resulting to an area of the cliff that 'slips' down the cliff face onto the beach (rotational slip)- Forming a step like shape.

To tackle the problem of erosion, the clay needs to be stabilized, or protected by a method out at sea (.e.g. groins), without affecting the natural long shore drift, that creates and maintains the look of the famous spurn head spit.

To do this, rather than building a sea concrete wall that would be costly, unsightly, and have severe impacts on spurn head, I'd first of all, simply reduce the angle of the cliff. This would keep a natural environment, would be less costly, and still just as effective, by reducing the rates of erosion via slumping.
It would:
* Reduce the number of cracks forming as slump lanes, due to the lesser effects of undercutting at the bottom of the cliff face.
* In turn this would also reduce areas of the cliff face that may have originally fallen down a lubricated and steep cliff face. Due to less undercutting, less cracks would mean less rain can get into the rocks, therefore lesser lubrication. Also the effects of gravity on the rotational slump would be much lower, effectively preventing any rocks to simply slip down.

On top of the main plan to alter cliff steepness, other smaller softer methods could be used such as the addition of drainage pipes. These would lesser lubrication between the boulder clay in cracks, making it harder for slumping to occur.

One method that should not be used is the addition of groins, as these would affect/prevent any long shore drift. In this area, long shore drift is vital as it maintains the famous spurn head spit, and all of the natural wildlife areas surrounding it.

Summary: my approach to coastal protection