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. 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. 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. Before the mid-1990s, standard engineering practices for most coastal management projects employed traditional hard engineering methods. Hard shoreline engineering is the use of non-organic reinforcing materials, such as concrete, steel, and plastic to fortify shorelines, stop erosion, and protect urban development from flooding. However, as shoreline development among coastal cities increased dramatically, the detrimental ecological factors became apparent. Hard shoreline engineering was designed to accommodate human development along the coast, focusing on increasing efficiency in the commercial, navigational, and industrial sectors of the economy. In 2003, the global population living within 120 miles of an ocean was 3 billion and is expected to double by the year 2025. These developments came at a high cost, destroying biological communities, isolating riparian habitats, altering the natural transport of sediment by disrupting and wave action and long-shore currents. Many coastal regions began to see significant coastal degradation due to human development, the Detroit River losing as great as 97% of its coastal wetland habitats. Singapore, as well, documented the disappearance of the majority of its mangrove forests, coastal reefs, and mudflat regions between 1920 and 1990 due to shoreline development. Towards the end of the 20th century, coastal engineering practices underwent a gradual transition towards incorporating the natural environment into planning considerations. In stark contrast to hard engineering, employed with the sole purpose of improving navigation, industrial and commercial uses of the river, soft engineering takes a multi-faceted approach, developing shorelines for a multitude of benefits and incorporating consideration of fish and wildlife habitat. Tasked with the responsibility to construct and maintain United States Federally authorized coastal civil works projects, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plays a major part in the development the principles of coastal engineering as practiced within the U.S. In part due to degradation of coastline across the United States, the core has since updated its coastal management practices with an increases emphasis on computer-based modeling, project upkeep, and environmental restoration. However, soft and hard engineering are not mutually exclusive, a blend of the two management practices can be used to design waterfronts , especially for high flow bodies of water. The most basic and fundamental form of soft shoreline engineering is adding native vegetation to degraded or damaged shoreline areas. to bolster the structural integrity of the soil. The deep roots of the vegetation binds the soil together, strengthening the structural integrity of the soil and preventing it from cracking apart and crumbling into the body of water. An added layer of vegetation also protects embankments from corrosive forces such as rain and wind. Rolled erosion control products are blankets or netting created with both natural and synthetic materials used to protect the surface of the ground from erosive forces and promote the growth of vegetation. RECPs are often used in locations highly susceptible to erosion, such as steep slopes, channels, and areas where natural vegetation is sparse. This product aids the growth of vegetation by protecting soil from rain drops, keeping seed in place, and maintaining moisture and temperature parameters consistent with plant growth. The typical composition of an RECP includes seed, fertilizer, degradable stakes, and a binding material. Although design varies by manufacturer, most RECPs are biodegradable or photodegradable and decompose after a given amount of time. Erosion control coir logs are natural fiber products designed to stabilize soil by supporting erosion prone areas such as river banks, slopes, hills, and streams. Coir is coconut fiber extracted from the outer husk of a coconut and used in products such as ropes, mats, and nets. Like RECPs, coir logs are natural and biodegradable, being composed primarily of densely packed coir fibers held together by a tubular coir twine netting. Coir fiber is strong, water resistant, making it a durable barrier against waves and river currents. Multiple sections of Coir Log can be joined together by twine to provide erosion control and prevention to vulnerable areas. Coir logs can also be vegetated and used to establish root systems of native plants along wetland edges. Lives stakes and fascines are a specific tree or shrub species that thrive in moist soil conditions and can be strategically used to stabilize stream banks and shorelines. Live stakes are hardwood cuttings with the branches removed that, when planted in moist soil, will grow new plants from the stems of the cut branches. They can be used alone, implanted into 2-inch pilot holes in the soil, or used as a device to secure other bioengineering materials such as rolled erosion control products and coir logs. Fascines are similar live branches strapped together and laid horizontally across streambank contours to impede or prevent the flow of water and curb erosion.