When you live near the ocean, you’ve got to maintain a pretty strict separation between the land and the water. Moisture can easily overtake coastal areas, resulting in landslides and erosion. This can cause property damage and a literal loss of property. Over time, engineering advancements have produced various means by which to protect the shoreline. Indeed, there are many types of marine construction structures.
1. Revetments
Revetments are sloping structures inserted into the shoreline to absorb the force of incoming water, which could be exacerbated by storms, swells, wake or tides. By thwarting the relentless power of the water, the risk of coastal erosion is greatly diminished.
2. Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are certainly utilized in Palm Beach County marine construction. They are used to hold soil in place, or to not allow soil to fall away. Retaining walls insist that the soil remains at a slope that would not naturally adhere to. Many homes that are adjacent to the shoreline utilize retaining walls, usually constructed of stone, wood or concrete. The walls prevent water from slamming against the naked shoreline, which is of course much less durable than a wall, and subject to crumbling over time.
3. Seawalls
Seawalls are vertically-build, or semi-vertical, and designed to create vertical space between water and land. Though one function is certainly to prevent erosion against the daily pounding of tidal waters, seawalls are an effective defense against storm surge flooding. Perhaps you’ve spent time on a road that runs along a seawall during a storm. If so, you’d notice how the waves slam against it and disperse into giant, relatively harmless splash clouds. If there was no wall, the water would simply climb the slope and overcome the flat road.
Marine construction structures are essential for protecting against coastal erosion. By employing them, communities greatly reduce the risk of damage from the constantly changing, and sometimes aggressive, dynamics that water presents.
