A honeycomb sea wall (also known as a "Seabee") is a
coastal defense structure that protects against strong waves and tides. It is constructed as a sloped wall of ceramic or concrete blocks with hexagonal holes on the slope, which makes it look like a honeycomb, hence the name of the unit. Its role is to capture sand and to discharge wave energy.
Ceramic honeycomb sea wall units usually have 6 or 7 holes and are safer to walk on. These are placed as a
revetment
A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water
...
over
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
or
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. During strong storms, surging sea water loses energy as it travels down the holes and through the underlayer. The water returns to the sea by upward flow through holes at levels below the transient phreatic surface in the underlayer, causing the downslope disturbing drag force to be reduced. Water that does not go through the holes is redirected by the concrete wall back into the path of oncoming waves, creating more turbulence. Cost comparisons between various seawalls are always site specific, but Seabees use approximately 22% the mass of rock for the same exposure. As the area of the unit is sensibly independent of height
spect ratios in use vary from 0.4 to 2.5the mass of the unit can be optimised for all stages of the production and construction process. Surface roughness may also be determined by using combinations of different height units. Allowance for wear is easily allowed
.g. Shoreham, 1989-90 & various Lincolnshire Seawalls Reductions of almost 50% in runup have been achieved, both in the laboratory and at chosen sites.
[ Seabee Design Manual, 5th Edition]
See also
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Beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
*
Coastal management
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...
, for creation and maintenance of beach
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Coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
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Longshore drift
Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction ...
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Coastal geography
Coastal geography is the study of the constantly changing region between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography (i.e. coastal geomorphology, climatology and oceanography) and the human geography (sociology and history) ...
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Strand plain
A strand plain or strandplain is a broad belt of sand along a shoreline with a surface exhibiting well-defined parallel or semi-parallel sand ridges separated by shallow swales. A strand plain differs from a barrier island in that it lacks eit ...
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Sand dune stabilization Sand dune stabilization is a coastal management practice designed to prevent erosion of sand dunes. Sand dunes are common features of shoreline and desert environments. Dunes provide habitat for highly specialized plants and animals, including rar ...
References
External links
Close up picture of a seabee wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honeycomb Sea Wall
Coastal engineering
Seawalls