Do the coastal defences at Dawlish Warren have a significantly larger impact on coastal processes than at Slapton Sands?
Throughout this independent enquiry I will be examining the structure and location of the majority of the coastal defences at two drift aligned depositional landforms on the South Devon coastline; Dawlish Warren (the geographer online)1 and Slapton Sands (Chadwick et al, 2005)2. In particular, the success of the defences placed at these two landforms will be compared by measuring their influence on the coastal processes which are found to naturally occur in the respective littoral zones of the two stretches of coast. Moreover, the processes that will be looked at in detail are those that significantly contribute to the coastal …show more content…
Both the defences at the two locations have not been entirely reliable in the past. In particular, the work by Chadwick et al 20052 et al focusses on a ‘new analysis’ of Slapton barrier beach system where they are focusing on the constraints of the road and the defences on the barrier. In this case Chadwick et al focussed on the defences comprised of rock armour and concrete block mattresses and found that they slowed the erosion of the wave crest and cause the beach to steepen. They also stated that the road also had a ‘marked impact’ as it prevented shingle thrown ‘landward of the beach crest forming a new landward crest.’ This strongly indicates that the defences prevent the beach building up significantly on the landward side. In addition, the defences themselves have also been documented to have previously failed. For example, since the erection of the preliminary defences in 1944 (South Devon ANOB 2012) 4, there have been several severe storms which have had devastating impacts due to the defences’ poor construction. Several of these events are listed on the South Devon ANOB 20124 website and include the documentation of the 1979 Torcross storm where houses and businesses were destroyed and then flooded at Torcross and ‘all seafront homes were evacuated and Slapton Line closed for a few days.’ Moreover, they also explain these events by Slapton Sand’s ‘proximity to the sea, the inadequate sea defences and the susceptibility to strong easterly winds. ‘More recently, Chadwick et al 20052 writes ‘During a series of storms in the winter of 2000/2001, significant damage occurred to the barrier beach at Slapton, where a 250 m section of the road was severely damaged.’ Thus, these sources both support the argument that historically the coastal defences at Slapton have not been
Throughout this independent enquiry I will be examining the structure and location of the majority of the coastal defences at two drift aligned depositional landforms on the South Devon coastline; Dawlish Warren (the geographer online)1 and Slapton Sands (Chadwick et al, 2005)2. In particular, the success of the defences placed at these two landforms will be compared by measuring their influence on the coastal processes which are found to naturally occur in the respective littoral zones of the two stretches of coast. Moreover, the processes that will be looked at in detail are those that significantly contribute to the coastal …show more content…
Both the defences at the two locations have not been entirely reliable in the past. In particular, the work by Chadwick et al 20052 et al focusses on a ‘new analysis’ of Slapton barrier beach system where they are focusing on the constraints of the road and the defences on the barrier. In this case Chadwick et al focussed on the defences comprised of rock armour and concrete block mattresses and found that they slowed the erosion of the wave crest and cause the beach to steepen. They also stated that the road also had a ‘marked impact’ as it prevented shingle thrown ‘landward of the beach crest forming a new landward crest.’ This strongly indicates that the defences prevent the beach building up significantly on the landward side. In addition, the defences themselves have also been documented to have previously failed. For example, since the erection of the preliminary defences in 1944 (South Devon ANOB 2012) 4, there have been several severe storms which have had devastating impacts due to the defences’ poor construction. Several of these events are listed on the South Devon ANOB 20124 website and include the documentation of the 1979 Torcross storm where houses and businesses were destroyed and then flooded at Torcross and ‘all seafront homes were evacuated and Slapton Line closed for a few days.’ Moreover, they also explain these events by Slapton Sand’s ‘proximity to the sea, the inadequate sea defences and the susceptibility to strong easterly winds. ‘More recently, Chadwick et al 20052 writes ‘During a series of storms in the winter of 2000/2001, significant damage occurred to the barrier beach at Slapton, where a 250 m section of the road was severely damaged.’ Thus, these sources both support the argument that historically the coastal defences at Slapton have not been