Coastal Engineering—Soft Structures

heavy equipment adding sand to the beach
Beach nourishment project at a Chrissy Field in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, California.

NPS photo.

Soft engineering uses soft methods including dredging, beach nourishment, and beach scraping to limit erosion and achieve shoreline stabilization. If necessary, these methods are less intrusive to natural coastal processes compared to hard structures.

Last updated: April 9, 2019

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