ENBE Ltd.

shoreline engineering, science and management

Design and Environmental Impact Related Work

ENBE’s work engages any situation where man’s intervention interacts with the marine environment.  Our work ranges from the design of marine structures to the impacts on shoreline habitats.

 

Marine Structures are required to survive the marine environment and to deliver the required performance.

Marine structures can be designed to undertake a number of different roles, including the protection from erosion or flooding, or providing satisfactory conditions for navigational operations.  All marine structures interact with the marine environment, and so the influence on hydrodynamic forces and sediment transport must be considered.

 

Marine Habitats are essential components of the shoreline and intertidal areas. 

Interference from either marine structures or natural phenomena can have both immediate and long term implications on marine habitats.  The dynamic natures of the sea means that impacts can occur either locally or remotely away from the site.

 

Both design activities and environmental impacts feature strongly in the services we provide and are often closely related.  The following lists some principal aspects of our work.

 

 

Maritime Works

Any developments on the coast, whether harbours, marinas, ports or other, are likely to involve some of the following: breakwaters, harbour walls, navigation channels and dredging for maintenance or capital works.

Coastal Habitats

All intertidal and estuarine habitats need consideration and protection to ensure their survival, habitats include: rocky shores, sandy beaches, mudflats, salt-marshes, mangroves, brackish lagoons and coral reefs.

Coastal Processes

Central to all coastal studies is the analysis of:

· Hydrodynamics, including wind, waves, water levels, tides and currents

· Sediment transport and local regimes, including shoreline evolution, crossshore and long-shore sediment transport and the influence of control structures.

Design Performance

Some aspects to be considered in a coastal engineering design include:

Overtopping and run-up, stability of rock amour, geotechnical stability, longevity, durability, maintenance, crest height, slope angle, toe detail etc.

Environmental Impact

Impact Consideration might include: smothering of a habitat, change to hydrodynamic regime e.g. increase in wave activity, or turbidity, or a change to the sediment transport e.g. up drift accretion, down-drift erosion or scour.

Coastal Defence

For erosion control and flood protection, either hard of soft engineering strategies can be applied including: seawalls, revetments, breakwaters, beach management, beach nourishment, groynes, headlands, managed retreat, artificial reefs, maintenance and in some cases do—nothing.