What does cliff stabilisation do?

Stabilisation techniques are used to limit the amount of erosion and the potential for landslides, collapse and falling rocks. One cliff stabilisation technique is to reduce the slope of the cliff and revegetate the cliff top.

What are the disadvantages of cliff stabilisation?

Soft Engineering – Cliff Regrading

Soft Engineering – Cliff Regrading
Advantages Cliff becomes more stable Less prone to unexpected movement Disadvantages May be impractical if valuable land use exists on cliff top Ongoing maintenance costs

How do you stabilize cliffs?

Cliff stabilisation

  1. Littoral strip reloading: compensate littoral imbalance caused by marine erosion by placing sand or pebbles at the foot of the cliff.
  2. Re-vegetation: managing existing vegetation to regain damaged areas or establishing a vegetation cover on the slope to limit the risk of instabilities.

Is cliff stabilisation hard or soft engineering?

soft engineering
Cliff stabilisation is a form of soft engineering – these methods are usually a more sustainable and sometimes cheaper approach to coastal defences, using natural processes to protect the shoreline against flooding and erosion.

What are the costs and benefits of managed retreat?

Managed Retreat

  • Creates natural coastal habitat that provides protective functions.
  • Initial costs are high but long term savings are likely.
  • Provides a more sustainable long term solution.
  • Returns land that floods regularly to natural habitat and reduces damage to property.
  • Eliminates “coastal squeeze”

Is cliff drainage expensive?

Drainage does not cost much money and can get great results because it reduces the amount of the water in the cliff, which could be saturated.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cliff drainage?

Hard Engineering – Cliff Drainage

Hard Engineering – Cliff Drainage
Advantages No build up on impermeable and saturated clays Hidden structures mean more attractive natural appearance Prevents landslides/mass movement Disadvantages Cliff is still open to wave erosion

Is managed retreat cheap?

It is a cheap option compared to paying for sea defences. Creates a salt marsh which can provide habitats for wildlife and a natural defence against erosion and flooding.

Why is managed retreat bad?

Causes controversy due to lack of understanding. Requires large initial financial investment. Requires long term planning. Requires community buy-in and cooperation of multiple agencies.