Shore Protection for a Placer Deposit Rich Beach of the Southwest Coast of India

Abstract

The placer deposits dominated Neendakara-Kayamkulam sector along the Kerala coast on the southwest coast of India may be characterized as a dynamic, unstable beach based on shoreline oscillations observed over the past years. Both long-term and short-term shoreline variations can be easily linked directly to a number of factors – both natural and anthropogenic. Of these, activities such as large scale mining for heavy minerals; dredging and construction of hard structures such as breakwaters and groins; have contributed significantly to the changes in shoreline. The coastal hydrodynamics of the area is highly complex because of the variation in shoreline orientation and near shore slope. The present work is an attempt to understand the coastal processes and to identify the factors responsible for the shoreline oscillations by conducting numerical model studies. The studies on the shoreline changes are also carried out as a part of this study in order to identify the critical areas of the shore that need immediate protection. The study shows that the northern part of the study area (barring the 2km stretch lying to the immediate south of the Kayamkulam inlet) has been eroding significantly which requires immediate protection. The proposed shoreline protection measure is to provide detached offshore submerged breakwaters.