Impacts of coastal structures on hydro-morphodynamic patterns and guidelines towards sustainable coastal development: A case studies review

Abstract

Coastal regions have important social and economic relevance and are vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Port settlement and development are among the main economic activities that take place in these zones and generally require the construction of coastal structures such as breakwaters, jetties, seawalls and bulkheads. Such interference can have severe consequences on the natural features of these systems, especially to inlets and adjacent coasts. The increasing levels of shipping traffic and anthropogenic impacts on the dynamics of coastal systems are of great importance for coastal sciences and highlight the requirement for sustainable coastal management. The first step towards sustainability measures is to get knowledge of the broad environmental impacts associated with interventions on coastline and morpho-sedimentary processes. In this study, environmental impacts that are associated with coastal engineering works worldwide were reviewed focusing on port development. The main anthropogenic impacts and guidelines for sustainable development in coastal zones are summarized and discussed in detail.