Protection
of the coastline
The coast is a very important resource, thus people try to protect the coastline’s physical features and the activities found close to it, from two main elements:
Wave
energy
Longshore
transport of sand
Protection
from wave energy
Wave energy can be very powerful. It is the main agent of erosion on coastal areas. Humans try to protect harbours, buildings and roads from wave energy by redirecting this energy away from these sites. This could be done by building break waters and, or sea walls.
Breakwaters are built to protect harbours. When waves break on them, they absorb some of their energy and reflect the waves back into the sea. In this way, breakwaters stop the waves from entering the harbour. An example in Malta is the one found in the Grand Harbour.
Sea walls
are vertical walls built on the shore to protect the roads and buildings
near the coast from storm waves. A
good example of sea wall is found in St.
Julians.
Sea walls are used to reflect and redirect the waves.
Protection from longshore transport of sand
The transportation of sand by longshore drift can sometimes hinder human activities taking place on coastal areas. To avoid or diminish these consequences, people built jetties or groins.
Jetties are used to prevent the built up of sediment at the mouth of harbours. In Malta jetties are commonly used to protect inlets. E.g. in Bugibba
Groins
– are like small dams built on the beach.
These are used to trap the sand behind them. In
this way, they make it impossible for the sand to be transported away and
for the beach to be depleted. Groins
are especially built on very long beaches; hence they are not common in
Malta.