Coastal erosion risk assessment and applied mitigation measures at Ezbet Elborg village, Egyptian delta

Abstract

Coastal areas globally suffer from serious erosion and sedimentation problems. The assessment of coastal erosion risk is fundamental for better coastal management. The main goal of the current study was to enhance coastal management by identifying the coastal erosion risk and suggest possible mitigation measures. The study was developed for the Egyptian Northern Coast. MIKE 21 was used to evaluate the erosion and test the proposed measures. First, a bathymetric survey of the study area was conducted. Then the tidal data, storm surge, and global sea rise data were collected. The offshore wave data, shoreline data were compiled. And then, the different nearshore wave modeling and wave propagation were modeled. The model was calibrated using measured data in 2014 and validated using measured data in 2016. Future shoreline changes for the years 2029, 2039, and 2049 were depicted. A suitable mitigation measure was used and tested for the same years. The groins with a specific size and arrangement were tested. The main goal of the study is to find a suitable solution to protect the coast and investigate its impact on the shoreline in the next 30 years. The proposed mitigation measure minimized the coastal erosion of the study area rigorously.