Soft engineering

Regarding the civil engineering of shorelines, soft engineering is a shoreline management practice that uses sustainable ecological principles to restore shoreline stabilization and protect riparian habitats. Soft Shoreline Engineering (SSE) uses the strategic placement of organic materials such as vegetation, stones, sand, debris, and other structural materials to reduce erosion, enhance shoreline aesthetic, soften the land-water interface, and lower costs of ecological restoration.[1]

To differentiate Soft Shoreline Engineering from Hard Shoreline Engineering, Hard Shoreline Engineering tends to use steel sheet piling or concrete breakwalls to prevent danger and fortify shorelines. Generally, Hard Shoreline Engineering is used for navigational or industrial purposes. To contrast, Soft Shoreline Engineering emphasizes the application of ecological principles rather than compromising the engineered integrity of the shoreline.[2] The opposite alternative is hard engineering.

  1. ^ Hartig, J.H.; Zarull, M.A.; Cook, A. (2011). "Soft shoreline engineering survey of ecological effectiveness". Ecological Engineering. 37 (8): 1231–1238. doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2011.02.006.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).