Low Cost Shore Protection

The erosion problems that are experienced today are often caused by failure to recognize that shorelines have always been areas of continuous and sometimes dramatic change. This lack of understanding of shoreline processes has been catastrophic for many property owners, both private and public. An objective of this report is to show that the situation is not without remedies and a large variety of reasonably low cost alternatives are available. However, it must be cautioned, that while appearing deceptively simple, most of them require careful judgment and design, and can entail considerable investment to correctly implement. Therefore, before any action is taken, it is important to recognize and understand the natural forces at work in the general area of a proposed project. By considering the overall view rather than conditions just at the site, a broader perspective of the problem and possible solutions is developed, and a more informed decision can be made.