BEACH NOURISHMENT IN CUNIT, SPAIN: SHIFTING FROM HARD TO SOFT PROTECTION

摘要

A beach protection enhancement project has been developed for the Spanish Coastal Authority following guidelines for littoral enhancement set by the Ministry of the Environment's coastal zone management plan. Located on the northern Mediterranean coast of Spain, Cunit is a 3.000-meter urban beach protected by a series of detached breakwater. This long stretch of beach constitutes probably the most important asset of the Municipality of Cunit, which relies on tourism as the main income source. The coastal front development combined with beach erosion in the eighties resulted in beach protection with detached breakwaters creating a series of pocket beaches. Despite to the strong armouring of the coast, erosion problems are still evident and critical at some points of the coast, as well as flooding. On the other hand, the existing structures represent also a hazardous condition for swimmers. As a result, a critical analysis of the existing structures has been overtaken, which together with detailed analysis of the coastal processes, have allowed to provide a new solution, replacing the hard structures with soft protection.