ON THE USE OF COBBLES AND BOULDERS TO NOURISH HIGH ENERGY BEACHES: “RECYCLING” AND “RESIZING” SEDIMENTS

The main constraint for beach nourishment is the existence of suitable sediment sources. The absence of this material, due to physical or administrative reasons, forces to look for alternative sources that can be used to artificially produced it. In this paper the use of alternative material to get sediment for beach nourishment in high energetic coasts is analyzed. Two suitable main sources –of terrestrial and marine origins- have been identified and treatment to be applied as well as existing constraints are covered. The proposed alternatives serve to introduce the sediment recycling and resizing concept, which is based on the artificial acceleration (or restoration) of natural processes suffered by the sediment.