A study on the reconstruction of Los Acantilados Beach, Argentina

A study on the reconstruction of Los Acantilados Beach, Argentina

Algera, A.
Burger, B.
Hartog, W.M.
De Rijke, Q.C.

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Hydraulic Engineering

2004-11-01

The city of Mar del Plata is situated some 400 km South of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The city has two main incomes, namely industry and tourism. In summer, beaches of this Atlantic Ocean faced destination are packed with typical Argentine beach tents, which can be rented, and people from all over Argentina come to Mar del Plata. The 600.000 inhabitants are outnumbered 3 to 1 since almost 2 million people visit the town during the months December-February. The crowded beaches in the centre of the town cause the popularity of the more quiet and more expensive beaches south of the town. The surroundings of the beaches around Punta Mogotes, make it a good place to spend the summer. The beaches around Punta Mogotes however, are not in possession of the local or provincial government. Playas del Faro, which mean beaches of the lighthouse, is the last remaining coastline in Argentina which is private. It’s common in Argentina to give concessions for a part of the beach, so this can be exploited by the concessionaire. This concept is applied for Playas del Faro. In the south of these beaches, big erosion problems are present. The most southern concession is called Los Acantilados (‘the cliffs’), named after the cliffs and the neighbourhood which is located a few hundred of meters land inward on top of the cliffs. Once economy flourished here, but with the total disappearance of the dune and beach system in front of the cliffs prospects are bad. With the provincial road and houses some hundred meters away, safety is not an issue. The biggest problem therefore is the lack of beach, which needs to be solved. The erosion is caused by a few reasons. The most important one is the lack of sand input from the south. The wave climate causes an average long shore current over the year from the south to the north. The city of Miramar, located 15 km south of Mar del Plata has had erosion problems since the early years of the previous century and has been constructing counter measures ever since. Further north of Miramar more groyne systems, the one more effective then the other, can be found. The most northern groyne is a rather large groyne of over two hundred meters situated in front of the house of the president. From this point to the research area of Los Acantilados no beaches, except some small pocket beaches, but only high cliffs can be found. Another reason for the erosion is the presence of heavy storms. Local experts say that in a year with more storms then usual, erosion is even worse. This problem is related with the problem above, as well as with the presence of human interference in the dune system. With no input of sand into the system, the sediment, which is placed on the fore shore by a storm, is immediately picked up by the long shore current instead of being transported back on the beaches by the waves of a milder wave climate. Three main solutions are possible for this problem: periodical nourishment, detached breakwaters and a groyne scheme. Nourishment itself is a nice solution with little negative effects. However it is expensive when compared with the construction of groins. The local quarry is situated less then 12 km from Los Acantilados. Constructing a groyne from shore is therefore six times less expensive then building a detached breakwater with the use of floating equipment. Besides the financial factor the groyne scheme has the advantage of being a more ‘permanent’ solution although having negative erosion effects downstream. After thorough consideration it was decided to design a groyne scheme.

Argentina
beach erosion
coastal zone management

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