Understanding mixed beaches and predicting their response to physical processes

A knowledge review of beaches with mixed types of sediment and techniques to predict how they’ll respond to physical influences.

From:
Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
11 February 2021
Category:
Understanding risks from all sources of flooding
Topics:
Coast, Coastal erosion, Natural capital, Understanding physical processes
Project status:
Completed
Project code:
FD1304
Date of completion:
31 March 2000

Documents

Development of predictive tools and design and guidance for mixed beaches - final report

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Details

Mixed beaches are common around the UK and many other parts of the word. This project reviewed existing knowledge of beaches with mixed types of sediment. It defined techniques to make better predictions of how these beaches will respond to short and long-term physical influences.

The results of this project:

  • improved our understanding of mixed sediments, the important transport processes and the differences with respect to similar beaches
  • reviewed existing numerical and physical modelling methods to identify their limitations and establish the most promising ways of developing improved techniques
  • defined the laboratory experiments and field monitoring required to improve understanding and check upcoming developments in models

The results of this project will be useful for the development of coastal strategy plans and beach management plans.

This project ran from 1999 to 2000 at a cost of £60,000.

Published 11 February 2021