My Geography Fieldwork Enquiry

Question/Title: 'Does hard engineering protect Cromer?'

Why is this relevant? The question is related to the physical topic and is suited to analysing how effective the hard engineering methods are at a local beach and tourist destination, Cromer.

Hypothesis: The coastal management schemes at Cromer beach are effective at protecting the seaside town in several ways

Geographical Theory: The geographical theory linked with this question is that longshore drift is active at Cromer beach, and that the area is exposed to destructive waves, particularly in the winter months when they are most common. This makes erosion of sediment immanent.

Risks: When measuring the height of sediment from the top of the groyne we had to be particularly careful that we did not fall, and to reduce this risk we chose a concrete groyne which looked very stable, rather than a wooden one which may have been less safe. In addition, we did not measure the groyne far out into sea - this was to avoid any risk of drowning, and we stayed under supervision.

Why was the location suitable? I chose Cromer beach because it is not far from me which meant I would have ample time to carry out the investigation, and also Cromer beach has three different types of hard engineering (gabions, sea wall and groynes) which means that there has been a lot of money invested in the protection of the town - I wanted to investigate how successful this was.

Collecting Data: We measured the height of sediment from the top of the groyne on the west and east sides…