Sustainable coastal defences—the use of timber and other materials Available to Purchase

Sustainability is becoming an increasingly significant consideration for all engineers, particularly those operating on our fragile and beautiful coastline. Considerable progress has been made towards developing more sympathetic solutions to coastal flooding and erosion problems, which integrate environmental and social considerations into engineering solutions. However, one area in which there is still much more to do is the sustainable use of materials. The use of tropical hardwoods in coastal defences brings attention to this issue in the context of public concern over the international depletion of rain forests. This paper addresses the use of timber, as well as discussing other initiatives and research which are now under way on behalf of the Government and the engineering profession. It shows that significant advances have been made over the past five years in delivering practical guidance to empower engineers to adopt more sustainable solutions, but that that there is still a long way to go, particularly in the use of waste materials.