Narrow Results

In this paper a critical review of the beach nourishment projects carried out in the City of Cadiz, Andalusian region, Spain is carried out by analyzing the following aspects: History and causes of beach disappearance, design conditions, construction of the works, performance of the projects after twelve years, new improvement projects and urban beach management considerations.

The main purpose of this paper is to present a critical review of different beach restoration projects conducted since 1992 till today at the northern coast of Cadiz (Chipiona and Rota counties) by analyzing the different coastal engineering and coastal management considerations used in their design. In particular, four different cases of beach nourishment projects are analyzed, having each one specific and interesting points to be stressed : a) Regla beach nourishment project; b) Rota beach nourishment project; c) Punta Candor dune restoration project; and d) La Ballena nourishment project.

In this paper various aspects of one of the most important urban beach nourishment projects carried out in Spain are presented, including design conditions, construction of the work itself and performance of the project after more than seven years. This complicated but successful project consisted of adding 1,200,000 m³ of sand along 1.2 kms, after construction of a relatively low-crested terminal coastal groin. Due to the special beauty of the town of San Sebastian, no high, visual intrusion caused by the terminal groin was allowed. Also, recreational social values such as walking along the maritime façade and local surfing were to be preserved within the design of the new beach. Incorporating aesthetics and recreational aspects in the coastal groin design and construction was not an easy task especially when coupled with other non-trivial technical problems such as beach stability in a very rough tidal sea.