Effects of Beach Nourishment and the Influence of Irrigation Water Discharge on Byunsan Beach, West Coast, Korea

Abstract

Byunsan Beach located on the west coast of Korea has been undergoing significant erosion in recent years during and after the construction of a large tidal embankment, the Saemanguem Dike, mostly because of the blocking of the sand supply from rivers. To reduce and prevent beach erosion, the Korean government decided to carry out beach nourishment in May 2012 just before the summer season. In order to monitor the performance of beach nourishment, precise measurements of beach morphology were taken 21 times during a 1-year period from May 2012 to April 2013 by using a RTK-GPS system. The result showed that the beach nourishment preserved the beach effectively, based on the fact that most of the additional sand remained on the beach after 1year. Although a local part of the beach was severely eroded by a heavy volume of irrigation discharge during the summer rainy spell, it recovered within a short period of time. As a major erosional event the whole area of the beach experienced massive erosion in a strong cyclone, Typhoon Sanba, in September 2012, but the beach recovered rapidly after the typhoon. Sediment accumulation also took place during the winter season, retaining the sand and aiding recovery of the beach. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.