Caponga Shoreline Rehabilitation Assessment

• Published in: Journal of coastal research 2003-04, p.564-572
• Main Authors: de S. Pinheiro, Lidriana, de Morais, Jáder Onofre, da S. Pitombeira, Erasmo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aeolian transport; Beaches; Berms; Coasts; Dunes; Intertidal zones; Sand; Sandbars; Sediments; Shorelines
• ISSN: 0749-0208; 1551-5036

Some segments of the Ceará State seashore, northeastern Brazil, are eroding as a result of geogenie and anthropogenic processes. Caponga is a coastal district of Cascavel Municipality, located on the east coast of Ceará State, 70 km south from Fortaleza, the State Capital, that is experiencing erosion as a result of unsuitable occupation of sediment sources that has disrupted the sedimentary balance on the beach. This has resulted in beach degradation, backshore destruction and a series of physiographic damages causing economic loss to local community and tourism decline. The placement of six gabions at right angle to the coastline and a longitudinal one attached to the backshore were built for rehabilitation of this area. This study commenced as soon as these structures had been implemented. This paper embodies the one year monitoring of three compartmentalized beach cells, aimed to assess the impact of wave climate, sediment transport of beach progradation and starvation within the cells. The results pointed out the safeties of this kind of structures, compatible to the wave climate and géomorphologie attributes of this area as it could be ratified by the preeminent coming off rehabilitation. Some suggestions have been made for improving the westwards parts to taking the gabion methodology into account, making the comparison with other ones before initiating some implementation in peculiar sites of the State littoral. In this way it could be set up a series of conclusions and recommendations to point out this methodology to other parts of the Ceará state littoral.