Hard vs Soft Engineering

Engineering can reduce the risk of flooding or its effects:

There are two types of strategy to deal with flooding:

• Hard engineering-man-made structures built to control the flow of rivers and reduce flooding.
• Soft engineering- schemes nset up using knowledgfe of a river and its processes to reduce the effects of flooding.

Hard Engineering:

• Dams and Resevoirs-
• What its is: Dams are built across the rivers, usually in the upper courses. A resivoir is formed behind the dam.
• Benefits: Resivoirs store water, especially during periods of prolonged or heavy rain, reducing the risk of flooding The water in the resivoir can be used as drinking water and to generate hydroelectric power.
• Disadvantages: Dams are very expensive to build. Creating a resicoir can flood existing settlements. Eroded…