Bulkhead (barrier)

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This example of multiple structures includes a massive seawall and riprap revetment.

A bulkhead is a retaining wall, such as a bulkhead within a ship or a watershed retaining wall. It may also be used in mines to contain flooding.

Coastal bulkheads are most often referred to as

shorelines with the purpose of controlling beach erosion. Construction materials commonly used include wood pilings, commercially developed vinyl products, large boulders stacked to form a wall, or a seawall built of concrete
or another hard substance.

habitat
areas of fish, plants, and birds. Many states have enacted laws to protect beaches to allow for future use of the beaches, as well as protect these natural habitats.

The term bulkhead is also used in a similar but distinct context to refer to large pressure sealing isolation barriers which can be retroactively installed for temporary or permanent use during maintenance or construction activities.[1]

Effects

While bulkheads may serve their purpose to slow erosion at a

littoral drift, the sand would then instead be distributed toward the ends of the bulkheads, leaving larger gravel and sometimes bedrock
in place of the once sandy beach.

Since sand is a natural habitat for several species of fish to lay their eggs and is also the only surface in which eelgrass can take root, these natural processes can no longer take place in this now sand-stripped location. The absence of eelgrass means that the spawning habitat for herring and the protection for juvenile salmon would no longer be present. This new sand-stripped habitat also encourages other species, such as kelp, to move in.

Gallery

  • Seawall on North Padre Island constructed in the backbeach to protect condominiums from storm waves and beach erosion. Central Texas
    Seawall on North Padre Island constructed in the backbeach to protect condominiums from storm waves and beach erosion. Central Texas
  • Seawall protecting homes from storm waves and beach erosion. Northwestern Panhandle of Florida
    Seawall protecting homes from storm waves and beach erosion. Northwestern Panhandle of Florida
  • Hard structures, such as the Galveston seawall, can increase erosion of adjacent beaches.
    Hard structures, such as the Galveston seawall, can increase erosion of adjacent beaches.
  • Seawall protecting homes from storm waves and beach erosion. Eastern Panhandle of Florida
    Seawall protecting homes from storm waves and beach erosion. Eastern Panhandle of Florida

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bulkheads and Large Isolation Barriers". Mechanical Research & Design, Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2022.

(Soft Shore Protection as an Alternative to Bulkheads—Projects And Monitoring - PDF

External links

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