Shoreline evolution in adjacent to a coastal structure in Hiep Thanh commune, Duyen Hai district, Tra Vinh province

Abstract

Coastal erosion is significant along the coastline in Hiep Thanh commune, Duyen Hai district, Tra Vinh province, Viet Nam. In order to address this severe coastal erosion, the local community has constructed a concrete embankment as an emergency solution to protect the coastline. However, this solution exacerbates the issue since the fundamental processes of coastal erosion remain inadequately explored and understood. Specifically, in beach sections without the concrete embankment, erosion still occurs. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the shoreline changes adjacent to the embankment using an integrated approach with remote sensing and diffusion theory. The results show that beach erosion is occurring near the embankment at a rate of 44 meters per year, and the diffusion coefficient for longshore sand transport in the study area is 130 square meters per day. This study offers a practical approach to examining changes in the shoreline adjacent to a coastal structure, particularly valuable in situations where there is a scarcity of measured field data.