An Assessment of Groyne Performance in the United Kingdom

Groynes have been widely used for generations for preventing coastal erosion throughout the world. As coastal processes in a groyne system are complex and the groyne design is largely based on crude empirical methods, it is not always possible to ensure groyne performance at the design stage. Postproject appraisal is therefore of vital importance in assessing the actual performance and adequacy of the design methodology. This article presents the findings from an extensive questionnaire survey that has recently been carried out to assess the performance of existing groynes at many sites in the UK. Factors such as groyne configurations, the types of beach materials, and types of groynes on the performance of these groyne systems have been evaluated in detail. It has been found that the majority of groynes analysed are effective in preventing erosion of the groyned shoreline and that rock groynes perform particularly well compared with the traditional timber groynes.