Coastal Erosion Assessment for Maine FIRMs and Map Modernization Plan

Beach and bluff erosion processes along the Maine coast

An Eroding Coast

bluff erosion and gravel beach formation

Coastal erosion in Maine occurs primarily where sediment is present along the shoreline at or near the high tide line. Over half of the Maine coast has sediments in and above the intertidal zone and is vulnerable to shoreline change due to erosion (Dickson, 2001b). Glacial and marine processes deposited sediment that makes up the "soft" coast during the last 20,000 years. Consequently, the sediment along the shore is geologically young compared to many non-glaciated coasts in the United States. These glacial and post-glacial sediments have not yet been hardened into solid rock so very little force from coastal processes is needed to reshape the shoreline. Much of the Maine coast is experiencing shoreline change (Figure 1) due to the abundance of soft sediments along the shore.

Sea Level

Figure 2

The most important force causing shoreline change is the rise in sea level. As in many places along the U.S. East Coast, the ocean has been rising at a rate of about 2 mm/year for at least a century. In Portland, the rate of sea-level rise since 1912 has been about 1.9 mm/yr (0.61 feet/century; see Figure 2). While the rate of rise is not constant, the long-term trend is upward. As mean sea level rises, so does the height of the tides and the areas along the shoreline that can experience wave action and flooding.

Rising Floodplains

With simple sea-level rise, the coastal floodplain also rises. For example, in southern Maine, the salt marsh environment behind barrier beaches is generally an A-Zone (100-yr flood hazard area). The B-Zone (500-yr flood hazard area) is commonly about 6 inches higher than the A-Zone. So, the sea-level rise that has occurred in southern Maine since 1912 would have changed a 1912 back barrier marsh B-Zone to a A-Zone. Even in the absence of coastal erosion, a rising sea will gradually change the elevation of the floodplains and necessitate remapping of flood hazard areas.

Causes of Shoreline Change

Natural processes and human activities cause shoreline change. In addition to the gradual rise of the sea, other natural processes affect the position of the shoreline. The most important of the natural processes are waves, tides, and storm surge.

Waves

On a daily basis, waves and tides redistribute sediment along the shoreline. Waves that reach a shoreline at an angle produce a current that carries sediment along the shoreline. This sediment transport undercuts coastal bluffs and moves beach sand parallel to shore. Many shoreline areas have a predominant wave attack and thus a dominant sediment transport direction (e.g. Higgins Beach, Scarborough and Great Hill, Kennebunk). In an area with a natural balance of sediment supply and removal, the shoreline position remains stable. Along most Maine shorelines, however, the sediment budget is not balanced and there are areas of erosion and areas of accretion caused by waves.

Tidal Currents

Tides are also an important natural force that causes shoreline change. Tides flow in and out of estuaries and transport sediment along the margins of channels leading to and from the ocean. Tidal currents predominantly carry sediment from the ocean shoreline into the estuary in most Maine locations (e.g. the Kennebunk, Scarborough, and Webhannet Rivers). In a few places sediment is carried to the sea from an estuary. The Saco and Kennebec Rivers deliver sand to the coast. In either case, tidal currents continually alter shorelines and coastal floodplains in and around estuaries.

Flooding

Storm surge is the natural elevation of the sea due to the influence of wind and atmospheric pressure near the coast. Coastal flooding results from storm surge and surge statistics define the 100-year floodplain. Storm surge is also important in changing the shape of the shoreline. An elevated sea combined with storm waves results in erosion of frontal dunes and coastal bluffs. Single storm events can cause tens of feet of dunes to erode (e.g. February 1978 Blizzard and October 1991 "Perfect" Storm). In general, such dune erosion is seasonal and most loss from storms is replaced in a year. A storm with a 10- to 100-year recurrence interval may permanently change the location and elevation of the frontal dune and permanently shift the beach profile inland. After significant storms, coastal floodplain boundaries along Maine beaches are likely to have moved inland permanently. Prioritization for remapping flood hazard areas along beaches should consider the age of the map relative to the timing of significant storms.

Coastal Engineering

Human activity is a dominant force affecting the shoreline position and rates of shoreline change. The two primary actions that affect erosion and accretion are the engineering of seawalls and jetties. Seawalls are prevalent along about half of the beach shorelines. A significant, but yet undetermined, percentage of bluff shoreline is also armored to prevent shoreline change. In both coastal settings, the stabilized shore prevents the high tide line from moving inland. In fixing the shoreline, the natural release of sediment from the bluff or dune is prevented and the local sediment budget is permanently altered with consequences for adjacent shoreline stability.

Figure 3

Seawalls. Seawalls on beaches prevent the natural exchange of sand between the beach and dune (Figure 3). In many locations, seawalls prevent the process of minor coastal flooding and sand deposition on the frontal dune ridge. Thus, over time, frontal dunes with seawalls may not build up a ridge that is sufficiently high - as the floodplain creeps up with sea-level rise - to maintain a constant flood hazard at a particular location in the dunes. Frontal dune areas that may have been X-Zones in the past may become AO-Zones due to the lack of sand transport in a landward direction prevented by seawalls.

Seawalls also alter the rate of sand transport along the beach. By causing increased wave reflection, the amount of sand resuspended in the water in front of a seawall can increase and lead to more sand being carried in an alongshore direction, away from the beach profile. The increase in alongshore-sand transport can be 10 times that which occurs in a natural beach and dune system. Seawalls can significantly alter the local sand budget of beaches. An effect of seawalls can be to alter the orientation of the shoreline and thus the way waves break and run up the beach and cause coastal flooding.

The third way that seawalls affect coastal flood hazards is by creating a beach profile that is out of equilibrium. On beaches where seawalls have regularly reflected waves for several decades or more, the natural inland migration of the beach has not taken place. Instead, the beach seaward of the wall has lowered while the dune behind the wall has remained static. Compared to a natural beach profile in an adjacent area, the amount of disequilibrium can be on the order of 50 feet. The artificially lowered beach profile influences the height of the 100-year wave envelope and wave runup elevation. These factors, in turn, affect the inland extent of flooding and the need to reevaluate flood hazard areas.

Figure 4

Jetties. Jetties are engineered structures that flank tidal channels adjacent to beaches. They are installed to stop natural shoreline change where beaches meet a tidal inlet in order to provide better navigation. Maine has jetties on both shores of the Webhannet River (Wells), on both shores of the Kennebunk River, and both shores of the Saco River (Figure 4). There is only one jetty at the southern side of the Scarborough River. Within the estuary, both shores of the Goosefare Brook (Saco and Old Orchard Beach) are also stabilized. All of the major jetties at rivers in Maine have significantly altered local sand budgets and shoreline change.

Dredging. Dredging for navigation also influences shoreline positions. Unstable sandy channels adjacent to beaches have had regular and recurring maintenance dredging for many decades. The cumulative amount of sediment redistribution due to dredging is as significant as or more significant than natural processes in most local sediment budgets.

Cumulative Human Action

The combined influence of jetty engineering, seawalls, and dredging has accelerated shoreline change and the inland positions of floodplains in Maine in the last century. In the last 40 years, up to 2 million cubic yards of sand have been moved in the Wells Embayment (Ogunquit to Kennebunkport) under the influence of human activity and dramatic shoreline changes resulted. In the last century, about 4 million cubic yards of beach sand moved north in Saco Bay from Saco to Scarborough. This movement was away from a jetty at the Saco River and toward the jetty at the Scarborough River. The rate of sand movement north in the bay is about 3 times the natural rate that existed prior to jetty and seawall construction in Saco. Over 30 houses in Saco have been destroyed by the combination of shoreline change and coastal flooding that is attributed primarily to human activity.

Introduction Erosion processes Methods and data Suitability Assessment Spatial analysis Bluff erosion Obsolescence Conclusions References

Last updated on February 8, 2006.

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