Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method
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...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/2/145 |
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author | Piera Fischione Davide Pasquali Daniele Celli Carmine Di Nucci Marcello Di Risio |
author_facet | Piera Fischione Davide Pasquali Daniele Celli Carmine Di Nucci Marcello Di Risio |
author_sort | Piera Fischione |
collection | DOAJ |
description | 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. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:40:34Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-c95f6812f40b4e11b61a0ddc5fbf873c |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2077-1312 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:40:34Z |
publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
spelling | doaj.art-c95f6812f40b4e11b61a0ddc5fbf873c2023-11-23T20:34:17ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122022-01-0110214510.3390/jmse10020145Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering MethodPiera Fischione0Davide Pasquali1Daniele Celli2Carmine Di Nucci3Marcello Di Risio4Environmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyEnvironmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyEnvironmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyEnvironmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyEnvironmental and Maritime Hydraulic Laboratory (LIam), Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/2/145beach drainagesoft-engineering methodgroundwater dynamicsswash-zonecoastal protection |
spellingShingle | Piera Fischione Davide Pasquali Daniele Celli Carmine Di Nucci Marcello Di Risio Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method Journal of Marine Science and Engineering beach drainage soft-engineering method groundwater dynamics swash-zone coastal protection |
title | Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method |
title_full | Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method |
title_fullStr | Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method |
title_full_unstemmed | Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method |
title_short | Beach Drainage System: A Comprehensive Review of a Controversial Soft-Engineering Method |
title_sort | beach drainage system a comprehensive review of a controversial soft engineering method |
topic | beach drainage soft-engineering method groundwater dynamics swash-zone coastal protection |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/2/145 |
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