SANDY BEACH EROSION AND BEACH NOURISHMENT IN CIRCUM-BOHAI BAY

The sandy beaches of Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin and Shandong have suffered heavy erosion in recent decades. The mean erosion rate of the coastline is about 1.0~2.0 m/a, and up to 5~8 m/a locally or in a short time. In order to suppress coastal erosion, many hard structures such as alongshore breakwaters and spur dikes were built to protect the coast many years ago, which however caused continued erosion to the downstream coast. In recent years, beach nourishment technology was developed which can stabilize and widen the beach. By the end of 2012, 13 nourishment projects have been completed or under operation, including sandy beach nourishment, muddy beach nourishment and rocky beach nourishment and the results of them are generally good. These projects may promote the development of coastal tourism, and provide important design experiences.