Scour on Portuguese Coastal Defence Structures

Abstract

Coastal zones play an important role in the economical, social and political development of many countries, from which Portugal is no exception. Coastal erosion and flooding are serious threats to several stretches of the Portuguese coast which is exposed to severe storms coming form the North Atlantic. Along the most critical waterfronts, several coastal defence works have been built through the years in order to protect man's assets and natural systems. In this paper, after a brief description of the Portuguese coast and the existing environmental conditions, an overview of the main characteristics of the different types of coastal defence works is presented. Examples of scour related damages on Portuguese coastal defence structures are reported and analyzed. The potential mechanisms of failure are identified and current Portuguese practices to deal with this type of problems are pointed out. An overall overview of some important coastal structure reconstruction works, carried out in Portugal, is also presented.