Abstract
Coastal armoring (defined as any structure designed to prevent shoreline retreat that interacts with wave run-up at some point of the year) has, historically, been a typical response to managing the problem of beach erosion on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. By limiting the ability of an eroding shoreline to migrate landward, coastal armoring on Oahu has contributed to narrowing and complete loss of many kilometers of beach. In this paper, changes in beach width are analyzed along all armored and unarmored beaches on the island using historical shoreline positions mapped from orthorectified aerial photographs from as early as the late 1920s. Over the period of study, average beach width decreased by 11%±4% and nearly all (95%) documented beach loss was fronting armored coasts. Among armored beach sections, 72% of beaches are degraded, which includes 43% narrowed (28% significantly) and 29% (8.6km) completely lost to erosion. Beaches fronting coastal armoring narrowed by −36%±5% or −0.10±0.03m/year, on average. In comparison, beach widths along unarmored coasts were relatively stable with slightly more than half (53%) of beaches experiencing any form of degradation. East and south Oahu have the highest proportion of armored coast (35% and 39%, respectively) and experienced the greatest percent of complete beach loss (14% and 12%, respectively). West and north coasts, with relatively little armoring (10% and 12% armored, respectively), experienced little complete beach loss (2% and 6%, respectively). However, beaches are still significantly narrowed compared to historical patterns on west and north coasts (61% and 70%, respectively). We find at these sites that cultivation of coastal vegetation may be a factor in beach narrowing on Oahu, along with beach erosion. Increased ‘flanking’ erosion (accelerated shoreline retreat adjacent to armored sections) is documented at several beaches, often requiring extension of armoring structures to protect abutting coastal properties, a process that leads to alongshore seawall proliferation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Literature Cited
Carter CH, Monroe CB, Guy DE (1986) Lake Erie shore erosion; the effect of beach width and shore protection structures. J Coast Res 2:17–23
Fletcher CH (1992) Sea-level trends and physical consequences: applications to the U.S. shore. Earth Sci Rev 33:1–36
Fletcher CH, Jones AT (1996) Sea-level highstand recorded in Holocene shoreline deposits on Oahu, Hawaii. J Sediment Res 66(3):632–641
Fletcher CH, Mullane RA, Richmond BM (1997) Beach loss along armored shorelines on Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. J Coast Res 13(1):209–215
Fletcher CH, Rooney JJB, Barbee M, Lim S-C, Richmond BM (2003) Mapping shoreline change using digital orthophotogrammetry on Maui, HI. J Coast Res (Special Issue 38):106–124
Fletcher CH, Bochicchio C, Conger CL, Engels M, Feirstein EJ, Grossman EE, Grigg R, Harney JN, Rooney JB, Sherman CE, Vitousek S, Rubin K, Murray-Wallace CV (2008) Geology of Hawaii reefs. In: Riegl B, Dodge R (eds) Coral reefs of the U.S.A. Springer, Berlin, pp 435–488
Fletcher CH, Romine BM, Genz AS, Barbee MM, Dyer M, Anderson TR, Lim SC, Vitousek S, Bochicchio C, Richmond BM (2012) National assessment of shoreline change: historical shoreline changes in the Hawaiian Islands. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1051
Hall MJ, Pilkey OH (1991) Effects of hard stabilization on dry beach width for New Jersey. J Coast Res 7(3):771–785
Hapke CJ, Himmelstoss EA, Kratzmann MG, List JH, Thieler ER (2010) National assessment of shoreline change: historical shoreline changes along the New England and Mid-Atlantic coasts. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010–1118
Harney JN, Fletcher CH (2003) A budget of carbonate framework and sediment production, Kailua Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. J Sediment Res 73(6):856–868
Harney JN, Grossman EE, Richmond BM, Fletcher CH (2000) Age and composition of carbonate shoreface sediments, Kailua Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. Coral Reefs 19:141–154
Hwang D (1981) Beach changes on Oahu as revealed by aerial photographs. Prepared by the Urban Regional Planning Program and the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Sea Grant Program, University of Hawaii for the Dept. of Planning and Economic Development, State of Hawaii, Technical Supplement 22. Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program, Honolulu
Komar PD, McDougal WG (1988) Coastal erosion and engineering structures: the Oregon experience. J Coast Res (Special Issue 4):77–92
Kraus NC, McDougal WG (1996) The effects of seawalls on the beach: part I, an updated literature review. J Coast Res 12(3):691–701
Makai Ocean Engineering, Sea Engineering (1991) Aerial photograph analysis of coastal erosion on the Islands of Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Hawaii. Office of State Planning/Coastal Zone Management Program, Honolulu
McDonald HV, Patterson DC (1984) Beach response to coastal works, Gold Coast, Australia. In: Proceedings of the international conference on coastal engineering, No 19 '84, Houston, TX, pp 1522–1538
Romine BM, Fletcher CH, Frazer LN, Genz AS, Barbee MM, Lim S-C (2009) Historical shoreline change, Southeast Oahu, Hawaii: applying polynomial models to calculate shoreline change rates. J Coast Res 25(6):1236–1253
Sea Engineering Inc (1988) Oahu shoreline study. City and county of Honolulu Department of Land Utilization
Sherrod DR, Sinton JM, Watkins SE, Brunt KM (2007) Geologic map of the State of Hawaii. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
Tait JF, Griggs GB (1990) Beach response to the presence of a seawall. Shore Beach 58:11–28
Vermeer M, Rahmstorf S (2009) Global sea level linked to global temperature. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106(51):21527–21532
Vitousek S, Fletcher CH (2008) Maximum annually recurring wave heights in Hawaii. Pac Sci 62(4):541–553
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by grants from the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, and Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program. We thank Matthew Barbee, Chyn Lim, Tiffany Anderson, Haunani Kane, Matthew Dyer, Amanda Vinson, and Craig Sentor of the University of Hawaii Coastal Geology Group for their support on this project. Thank you to Neil Frazer of the University of Hawaii Geology and Geophysics Department for his advice on statistical methods. Thank you to Chris Conger and Dolan Eversole of Hawaii Sea Grant and Jessica Podoski of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their advice on defining and mapping coastal armoring.
This paper is funded in part by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Project R/IR-4, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, SOEST, under Institutional Grant No. NA09OAR4170060 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. UNIHI-SEAGRANT-BC-09-02.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Romine, B.M., Fletcher, C.H. (2012). Armoring on Eroding Coasts Leads to Beach Narrowing and Loss on Oahu, Hawaii. In: Cooper, J., Pilkey, O. (eds) Pitfalls of Shoreline Stabilization. Coastal Research Library, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4123-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4123-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4122-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4123-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)