Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method

Abstract

The beach drainage can be included among the soft engineering methods aimed to counteract the shoreline retreat related to the sediment redistribution along the beach profile. The idea that the groundwater table plays a role in the mobilization of the sediment grains underlies the application of the beach drainage system (BDS) as a tool able to modify the natural dynamics of groundwater table at sandy beaches. Indeed, BDS consists of a series of alongshore buried drains aimed to lower the groundwater table. Due to the drainage, the thickening of the layer of dry sand makes the solid grains less prone to be mobilized by the action of the waves at the swash zone, where interaction phenomena between the percolating and the incoming water lens take place. This tool had a troubled history. Its first applications were encouraging. Since then, controversial performances of both experimental and prototype scale experiences have been observed around the world. This paper aims to present an up-to-date full review of the studies and experiments carried out so far, in order to provide the reader with a complete perspective on its strength and weakness as well as open challenges to be faced in the near future.

Design and implementation of an innovative wind power system for beach erosion protection and nourishment

“…The application of this technique remained for many years at the level of research and experimentation on a limited number of cases, with results, moreover, sometimes even spectacular [6,7,8], when some beaches grew back spontaneously, after the installation of the systems, up to 25 to 30 meters, but with a limited life span of only a few years due to the required continuity in power supply, maintenance and management entrusted to public agencies, which often do not respond readily to the required operational needs. The main problem encountered in the realized applications the drainage pump when erosive activity is at its highest, thus in the presence of intense thunderstorms which frequently produce problems of malfunction and interruption of the electrical power supply.…”