Artificial beach nourishment on Belgian east coast

For several decades, the Belgian East Coast has posed problems of a sedimentological nature. Off the coast, a gully (called “Appelzak”) has developed to a depth of 8 m below low-water and has shifted dangerously near the existing seadike, causing severe beach erosion. In 1976 the Belgian Government decided to sizeably enlarge the outer harbor of Zeebrugge seaward to a distance of 3.5 km from the coast, and to proceed with a significant beach restoration of about 8.5 million m³ of sand. An extensive observation program is carried out to study beach changes and to indicate unexpected development... Mehr ...