Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method

Piera Fischione,Marcello Di Risio,Daniele Celli,Davide Pasquali,Carmine Di Nucci

doi:10.3390/jmse10020145

Piera Fischione, Marcello Di Risio + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10020145

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Abstract

The beach drainage can be included among the soft engineering methods aimed to counteract the shoreline retreat related to the sediment redistribution along the beach profile. The idea that the groundwater table plays a role in the mobilization of the sediment grains underlies the application of the beach drainage system (BDS) as a tool able to modify the natural dynamics of groundwater table at sandy beaches. Indeed, BDS consists of a series of alongshore buried drains aimed to lower the groundwater table. Due to the drainage, the thickening of the layer of dry sand makes the solid grains less prone to be mobilized by the action of the waves at the swash zone, where interaction phenomena between the percolating and the incoming water lens take place. This tool had a troubled history. Its first applications were encouraging. Since then, controversial performances of both experimental and prototype scale experiences have been observed around the world. This paper aims to present an up-to-date full review of the studies and experiments carried out so far, in order to provide the reader with a complete perspective on its strength and weakness as well as open challenges to be faced in the near future.

Highlights

IntroductionEconomical, environmental, or social, the erosion process represents a big issue for coastal areas
Mariano BuccinoWhatever the reason, economical, environmental, or social, the erosion process represents a big issue for coastal areas
Academic Editors: Sara Corvaro and Whatever the reason, economical, environmental, or social, the erosion process represents a big issue for coastal areas. It can be defined as the permanent tendency of shoreline regression landward, as a result of a disequilibrium of the natural beach dynamics leading to sediment losses

Summary

Introduction

Economical, environmental, or social, the erosion process represents a big issue for coastal areas. It can be defined as the permanent tendency of shoreline regression landward, as a result of a disequilibrium of the natural beach dynamics leading to sediment losses. The reasons behind that disequilibrium comprise several factors, both natural and anthropogenic, direct or not, as a result of men-driven environmental changes. Bird [1] gave a list of 21 possible causes. They basically can be grouped into a bunch of general ones: Received: 31 October 2021. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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