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Recent Beach Restoration Projects in Taiwan

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 Third Chinese-German Joint Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Engineering
National Cheng Kung University, Tainan
November 8-16, 2006

Recent Beach Restoration Projects in Taiwan

John R-C. Hsu* and Melissa M-J. Yu**

National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), Kaohsiung
*Honorary Res. Fellow, School of Civil & Resource Eng., Univ. Western Australia
*jrchsu@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
**d9154807@student.nsysu.edu.tw

Shue-Ruey Liaw*, Jyh-Cheng Chu**,

Chien-Chung Chen*** and Nan-Jing Wu****
China Engineering Consultant, Inc. (CECI), Taipei
*mickey@ceci.org.tw, **chujc@ceci.org.tw,
***chencjc@ceci.org.tw, ****wnj0806@ceci.org.tw

Abstract
Similar to many places in the world, Taiwan’s coastlines have experienced short
term beach erosion arising from awesome waves and storm surges which have
aggravated the long term erosion caused by various man-made factors. To combat
beach erosion, hard structures using seawalls more than 500 km with protective
precast concrete blocks have been installed throughout the island since the 1970s.
Despite these hard structures have withheld the degradation of the coastline, they
have resulted in the disappearing of sandy beaches in front of them. Consequently
since 2000, the authority in Taiwan responsible for protecting the coast has publicly
called for a change in the methodology for beach erosion control with a major aim
to restore sandy beaches. This paper reports the planning and construction of
several recent restoration projects undertaken by a team of coastal engineers and
university academic in response to this call from which proposals have been
accepted or executed using artificial headland-bay beaches in static equilibrium
together with artificial nourishment.

1 Introduction
Taiwan is on the western Pacific Rim (Figure 1) where tropical cyclones have
prevailed in summer and early autumn months almost yearly. As a result, beach
erosion has become almost annual events, and the trend of erosion has been
continuing. This phenomenon is similar to that have occurred in many other places
in the world. The conventional approach of using seawalls and concrete blocks to
withhold shoreline from further retreat has not been effective, because sandy
beaches have vanished in front of these structures. Therefore, it is necessary to
rethink what to do next to maintain or restore sandy beaches in the long term.
Like many other countries in the world, especially Japan, Taiwan has installed
many seawalls in various types and dimensions since Japanese occupation of the
island during 1895~1945. Nowadays, seawalls and revetments totaling 510
kilometers are in place since the 1960s on where it requires protection. Ironically, to
fight against the degradation of a coast subject to storm attack, a seawall can not
stand alone, but requires heavy precast concrete blocks on its frontal slope and
base for dissipating wave energy and preventing seabed scouring.

Figure 1 Location of Taiwan (Courtesy of Google Earth)

As seen in an engineering drawing of a seawall cross-section (Figure 2), there may
be five to six times more of the concrete blocks beneath the top of the pile that an
observer can see on the structure. In Taiwan, first groin was constructed at Balee in
Taipei County in 1976 and the first detached breakwater installed in 1981 at
Wunfong in Pindong County. Since then, many short straight groins and
narrow-gaped detached breakwaters have been in sprawl in some specific counties.
These protective devices, however, have often yielded a mix-bag of outcome.
Although most of these structures have provided the needed protection against
beach retreat, they have also adversely accelerated the disappearance of almost
all the fronting beaches that was once stood. As at the end of 2001, hard structures
to protect the narrow coastal strips in Taiwan include: (1) wave dissipation work on
beach berm and at the base of a cliff, totaling 60 km; (2) seawalls and revetments
totaling 510 km at various locations; (3) detached breakwaters total 200 units; and
(4) straight short groins about 170 units. As a result, the once attractive “Ilha
Formosa” called by Portuguese sailors in the 1960s has sadly been transformed
into a “concrete island” in more recent time, in the eyes of many environmentalists.
The same approach using hard structures to combat erosion have remained in
Taiwan until around in 2000 when the Water Resources Agency (WRA), Ministry of
Economic Affairs, ROC Government began to scrutinize the conventional
methodology and to promote the so-called “semi-natural technology”. In reality, this
new approach is equivalent to that of “eco-engineering” or “eco-technology” which
has been a popular means y for managing a river. The agency has then promoted
the “Five Year Coastal Environment Construction Plan 2004-2008” since 2004
which aims to upgrade coastal protection facilities and to promote new
methodology for beach restoration, among others. A total budget of USD$83 million
was set aside for this purpose over a period of five years, of which one half is
allowed for various engineering works.

Figure 2 A typical section of seawall with precast concrete blocks

(Courtesy of Wan-Ding Eng. Services Ltd)
However, it was not until 2001 when a group of university academic and consulting
engineers decided to vigorously promote the concept integrating artificial headland
and nourishment. They have to convince policy makers and the general public that
there are successful stories of beach restoration or creation of stable sandy
beaches elsewhere, especially where they have remained safe against the
onslaught of storm waves. Having convinced by some successful stories of bay
beaches installed in countries overseas, they have recently helped accomplish the
planning of several bay beaches in Taiwan for shore protection or coastal
restoration. The new approach involving the creation bay beaches in static
equilibrium based upon a universal parabolic bay shape equation (Hsu and Evans,
1989), as well as software such as MEPBAY (Klein et al.,2003) and the Spanish
Coastal Modeling System (Gonzalez and Medina, 2001, 2002). With these tools in
hand, coastal engineers can now assess beach stability for natural and man-made
bay beaches, prior to and after structural installation, as well as for the planning of
headland-bay beach in static equilibrium for recreation and tourism.

2 Beach Restoration Examples Overseas

A number of headland-bay beaches have been successfully installed prior to the
publication of the empirical bay shape equation (Hsu and Evans, 1989) since the
1960s. For example, as early as in the 1960s, Tourmen (1968) reported the
creation of an artificial beach consisting of three compartments at Larvotto, Monaco
which was produced by groin structures with nourishment comprising crushed
rubbles. He stated in details that “The three offshore breakwaters running parallel
to the beach vary between 80 to 100 metres in length with gaps of about 80 metres
between them; …beach material was gradually added, being tipped on the shore
and spread roughly by bulldozers. The beach was then left to settle down naturally
under wave action. …80,000 cubic metres of chipping were placed on the beach,…
Very little material was added to the east compartment as it was mainly intended to
provide landing facilities for small craft.” He added further that “Work on the beach
started early in 1965. Part of the beach was opened in 1966 and the whole job was
completed in 1967, and the beach has since proved very popular with bathers.” The
Larvotto beach today can be viewed from Google Earth imagery (Figure 3), and
verified by the parabolic bay shape equation.

Figure 3 Larvotto beach, Monaco (Courtesy of Google Earth)

Another example of man-made headland-bay beach is available from Shirarahama,
Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. Storm waves have affected the region in summer
months infrequently. Erosion was a problem to this embayed beach, following the
urbanization after WWII with population growth and reduction in river sediment
input to the beach. In 1976, local government contracted university academic in the
Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University to undertake a program
consisting of field observations and measurements, numerical simulations and
small-scaled physical experiments in the laboratory. Finally, an option consisted of
a T-head groin and nourishment to form a stable bay beach was recommended
(Tsuchiya et al., 1992). Work began in 1983, starting first with a 40 m submerged
offshore breakwater as an extension of the natural reef near its northern tip, and
then followed by a T-head groin in the middle of the original bay in 1987. As seen in
the photograph took in 1997 (Figure 4), the T-head groin has a shore-parallel
length of 170 m with width of 50 m and is about 130 m offshore. The linear width of
the bay is about 320 m. From the same oblique aerial photography, the completed
work with initial nourishment about 65,000 m3 from Western Australia has formed a
beautiful bay beach with berm width about 60 m in the north and 100 m near the
center. These are 20 to 50 m more than the original beach in 1975 (Figure 5).
Today, this bay beach is a popular resort for honeymooners in Japan and it has
also become a “sister beach” to Waikiki beach in Hawaii. Interestingly, the bay
periphery of this restored beach can be designed in a matter of few minutes using
the parabolic bay shape equation (Hsu and Evans, 1989) and MEPBAY (Klein et al.,
2003), rather months or years, simply by employing only the knowledge of coastal
geomorphology and the prevailing wave direction related to the local beach and
coastal environ.

Additional example can be found at South Island situated on the southeast of

Santosa, a popular tourist island in Singapore. In the 1990s, an engineering
consulting firm used the parabolic bay shape equation to devise the entire bay
shape set behind a pair of two straight groins (i.e., revetments) with a gap of 280 m.
A recent imagery in Google Earth exhibits the work in progress for the bay beach
(Figure 6). On the other hand, example of multiple-headland configuration is
available from Spain. For example, the multiple embayments at Predregalejo, to
the northeast of Malaga, Spain have transformed a deserted fishing village facing
the northwest Mediterranean into a popular tourism resort in the 1980s (Figure 7).

Figure 4 A view of Shirarahama beach, Figure 5 Shirarahama beach in 1975

Japan in 1997 (Courtesy of Dr T. (Courtesy of Dr T. Uda, Japan)
Yamashita)
 Figure 6 A bay beach at South Figure 7 A complex bay system at
Island, Singapore Predregalejo in Spain
(Courtesy of Google Earth) (Courtesy of Google Earth)

3 Recent Beach Restoration Projects in Taiwan

By combining the parabolic bay shape equation (Hsu and Evans, 1989) with
software MEPBAY and the Spanish numerical simulation package SMC associated
with this empirical equation, desktop calculations and planning can be readily
performed for headland-bay beaches, no matter the task is for protecting a section
of coast or for creating a new bayed beach. Engineering applications of the
parabolic bay shape equation in Taiwan commenced in late 2001, through the
active supports given by a team of consulting engineers in the China Engineering
Consulting, Inc. (CECI) in Taipei, after the senior author returned to his native
country from Western Australia. Among a total of 9 recent projects related to the
creation of headland-bay beach, only five are to be reported herewith (see the
general map with locations of these project sites in Figure 8).

Figure 8 Localities of recent beach restoration project sites cited in this paper
3-1 Beach Nourishment at Anping
Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau decided to expand its subsidiary port at Anping in
Tainan city in 1997, with an annex to construct a man-made beach between the
breakwaters for the commercial and fishing harbors using dredged material from
the main navigation channel and harbor basin. Initial fill volume of 150,000 m3 was
used in conjunction with two spur groins about 300 and 350 m, respectively. The
project commenced in August 2003 and concluded in March 2005. Because this
was the first case of beach nourishment project in Taiwan, the harbor bureau had
made every effort to ascertain its success in order to serve as a model indicator for
future work in the country. Extensive numerical simulations and hydraulic model
were undertaken to predict the resulting bay shape. A total of 8 field monitoring
runs took place since March 2004 and the surveys were conducted seasonally until
December 2005 (Chen et al., 2006). From the results of the last survey in
December 2005, the resultant bay periphery (Figure 9) was found to agree well with
the prediction using the empirical parabolic bay shape equation (through MEPBAY).
This finding has given confidence to the engineers responsible for the project in
CECI and would assist future endeavors on similar project requirements
elsewhere.

3-2 Beach Restoration at Baisawan

Baisawan, situated to the immediate west of Fuguegiao and near the most northern
tip of Taiwan, has been a popular recreational beach in the northern part of Taiwan
in the summer. However, beach degradation occurred due to wave action from the
NE winter monsoon and man-made damage to the natural headland to its east.
This adverse effect has threatened the safety of properties close to the back beach.
Accidents have also been reported intermittently as swimmers being swept away
by rip currents. Commissioned by a local WRA office, engineers in the CECI have
devised a simple yet effective option using the concept of headland-bay beach in
static equilibrium aiming to protect the beach and reduce rip currents. As seen in
Figure 10, a nourished beach sheltered behind a curved groin, 105 m long and 6 m
crown width, would provide a bay in static equilibrium (Hsu and Evans, 1989). The
work is currently in progress and will be completed in two consecutive phases
within two years.

Figure 9 Beach nourishment at Figure 10 A new curved groin help

Anping (Chen et al., 2006) stabilize nourishment at Baisawan
3-3 Headland Control at Hualien
Hualien Harbor on the east coast of Taiwan is the island’s fourth commercial port.
Harbor bureau undertook basin expansion and breakwater extension, during the
period of 1980 to 1987. Soon after the extension of its Eastern Breakwater parallel
to the coastline (totaling 3190 m), beach erosion commenced at South Beach with
accretion at North Beach in the lee of the breakwater. Interestingly, the accretion at
North beach was not welcomed by the public as it could block a drainage creek of
the city. This scenario has been called “natural beach reshaping” (Silvester and
Hsu, 1997) or the so-called “groin effect” by the locals which is a process consisting
of downcoast erosion accompanying by upcoast accretion, due to construction of
breakwater or subsequent extension. As a result, seawall with precast concrete
blocks was implemented to protect South Beach. Several semi-submerged
detached breakwater units were later added. Although these devices have held
back local erosion at the South beach but it is more of a hindrance to the aesthetic
value of local coastal landscape. More over, the potential of beach erosion has
remained since it is controlled by the position of the breakwater tip in relation to the
predominant wave direction.
A methodology called headland control (Silvester and Hsu, 1993; 1997) with
nourishment was put forward to replace the conventional hard structures. A
feasible solution is a T-head groin to safeguard the nourished beach with sufficient
storm beach buffer width (Figure 11). A curved L-shape terminal groin is also
suggested to prevent silting the entrance of the drainage creek. MEPBAY software
(Klein et al., 2003) which implements the concept of static bay shape (Hsu and
Evans, 1989) is used to assist the planning. Hydraulic modeling is currently
undertaking in a university laboratory to verify a preliminary design. A final
engineering design will be available with the next year for implementation.

Figure 11 Bay beaches planned with T-head groin and L-shape

erminal groin for Hualien
3-4 Beach Restoration at Hsitzuwan
Hsitzuwan has been a popular spot for beach users in Kaohsiung and it is also
famous with beautiful sunset which has attracted bus-loads of tourists from other
counties in Taiwan. However, the original sandy beach about one-kilometer in
length and with minimum 50 m in width lost one-half of its length due to reclamation
for a university building site within the National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) in
the 1980s. The reclaimed land was then protected by seawall and precast concrete
blocks (see in Figure 12). A beach restoration program was initiated by a group of
university academic in early 2005, employing the concept of headland-bay beach
with nourishment. Again, parabolic bay shape equation (Hsu and Evans, 1989) is
used for the planning of bay beach in static equilibrium.

Figure 12 Hsitzuwan beach in 2005 prior to restoration

Beach restoration at Hsitzuwan coast involves man-made headlands and beach
nourishment to form static bay beach. During the preliminary investigation phase,
satisfactory verification for headland control concept integrated with nourishment
using numerical simulation tools (such as MEPBAY, GENESIS and MIKE21) was
obtained. With due consideration on beach safety, cost effectiveness and
environmental impact, it was then proposed that beach nourishment be undertaken
between new artificial headlands to be installed on Hsitzuwan. The study has
shown that, upon the completion of this project, Hsitzuwan would recover the sandy
beach to its full length and also enhance its aesthetic beauty from the extra length it
provides for the new sandy beach in a crescent form.
In the feasibility study phase in mid-2005, the planning team led by CECI put
forward three options (Figure 13) which were submitted to the Bureau of Public
Works, Kaohsiung City Government for consideration. The main components of
these options are briefly described in the followings.
(1). Option 1 is the smallest version among the three options. It covers only the
present swimming beach at Hsitzuwan. The work requires one moderate spur groin
at either end of the present beach about 500 m long and 100 m wide in average.
The crown of both groin-type headland will be 6 m wide to provide good access for
the general public. Sand volume for fill placement estimated at 88,000 cubic meters
will come from the dragged material at the outer entrance channel to the Kaohsiung
First Harbor or elsewhere. This option will provide a stable bay beach of 750 m long
(250 m more than the present beach) and an additional beach area of 2.2 hectares,
within a total budget of USD$1.5 million.
(2). Option 2 covers the entire Hsitzuwan beach to its original full length in 1976.
This option uses two boundary spur groins, with one along the northern breakwater
for the Kaohsiung Harbor (similar to that in Option 1) and another abutting out from
the L-shape groin at the northern end of the seawall. The volume required to
nourish the beach is about 244,000 cubic meters. This will result in a long artificial
bay beach about 1250 m (again, about 250 m more than the original) with an
additional beach area of 6.1 hectares. This option will cost USD$2 million
approximately.
(3). Option 3 produces a twin-bay system covering the whole Hsitzuwan beach.
This option comprises the layout of two boundary groins (as in Option 2) and an
additional fish-tailed groin (or other appropriate shape within the family of
composite groins) in the middle of the large bay shown in Option 2, in order to help
maintain beach stability against storm waves. This option will provide a new beach
area about 5.1 hectares at the cost of USD$2.7 million approximately.
Despite Option 2 may not be the best amongst all three for beach recovery after
storm, it has been adopted as the currently preferred option due to due to budget
restraint; and the first phase of the headland construction commenced in winter
2005. Part of the northern groin-type headland about 40 m was completed in
February 2006, and the work for the remaining 120 m will be continued in the winter
of 2006. Beach nourishment of 210,000 cubic meters will then follow, in order to
provide a large sandy bay beach in static equilibrium. The crown width of the
artificial headland is about 6 m and its elevation is at EL+3.5 m (above storm surge
level +2.13 m), while their sides are protected by precast concrete blocks of 5 to 8
tonne depending on the depth of the trunk. Later, the southern headland abutting
Marine
12/14
from the northern breakwater
Science to the Kaohsiung Harbor will
be installed to complete the
entire work.

Big Twin
Small bay bay
NSYSU
bay Figure 13 Options put
forward to restore the lost
sandy beach at
Hsitzuwan, Kaohsiung

3-5 Beach Restoration at Dapengwan

Dapengwan is situated at 25 kilometers to the southeast of Kaohsiung city. A large
lagoon is connected to Taiwan Strait by two inlet jetties of 250 m long made of
random piles of precast concrete blocks. Predominant swell comes from south in
the summer and from WNW in the winter, while storm waves may arrive from SE or
S quarters. The unprotected coastline at Dapengwan about 1.6 km aligns in the
NW to SE direction has been a target of storm waves which have caused erosion to
the beach. Further to its SE direction, the coast is protected by a system of
conventional detached breakwaters in narrow gaps, totaling 46 units over 5.3 km
long. Beach erosion has worsened in recent years, due to littoral drift being
intercepted by the detached breakwaters and further aggravated by storm waves.
To protect the previous sandy strip for recreational purpose, the regional authority
has contracted the CECI team in early 2006 aiming to provide a master plan for
beach restoration.
The plan adopts the concept of bay beaches in static equilibrium with nourishment.
Three computer models for bay beach (MEPBAY, GENESIS and SMC) have been
used to verify the bay periphery designed using the empirical bay shape equation
(Hsu and Evans, 1989). A total of six options have been submitted to the authority
for consideration. Among them, one of the options is given in Figure 14. Numerical
calculations of waves and nearshore current distribution have been undertaken
using the Spanish SMC. This option given in this figure employs a spur groin at the
north abutting from the end of the south inlet jetty, a T-head groin in the middle and
a detached breakwater to the south. The project will cost USD$2.8 million and the
work is expected to start in 2007.

Figure 14 An option considered for beach restoration at Dapeng Bay

4 Concluding Remarks
(1) The coastline of Taiwan has been eroding arising from numerous man-made
factors and further aggravated by storm wave attack. To combat erosion problem,
seawalls over 500 km with precast concrete blocks have been used to protect the
beach and human properties in the hinterland since the 1960s. However, sandy
beaches have disappeared in from of these hard structures. Since 2001, Water
Resources Agency responsible for coastal protection has publicly called for a
change in methodology of shore protection.
(2) A small group of university academic and engineering consultants, especially
those from China Engineering Consulting in Taipei have responded to this call and
have since determined to promote the concept of headland-bay beaches using the
parabolic bay shape equation (Hsu and Evan, 1989).
(3) A total of 9 beach restoration projects have been planed since 2001. Amongst
them, five are introduced in this paper to publicize the results of changing the shore
protection methodology and to mark the successful outcome employing
headland-bay beaches with beach nourishment in Taiwan.

5 References
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After the Artificial Nourishment at Anping Port. CECI Engineering Technology, Vol.
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Gonzalez, M. and R. Medina. On the Application of Static Equilibrium Bay

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Gonzalez, M. and R. Medina. A New Methodology for the Design of Static

Equilibrium Beaches and the Application in Nourishment Projects. Proceedings,
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Gonzalez, M. and R. Medina. Coastal Modeling and Planning Experience in Spain.

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Hsu, J.R-C. and C. Evans. Parabolic Bay Shapes and Applications. Proc. Instn.
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Silvester, R. and J.R.C. Hsu. Coastal Stabilization: Innovative Concepts.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 578pp, 1993.

Silvester, R. and J.R-C. Hsu. Coastal Stabilization. Singapore: World Scientific,

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Principality of Monaco. Proc., 11th International Conference on Coastal Engineering,
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Tsuchiya, T., Y. Kawata, T. Yamashita, T. Shibano, M. Kawasaki, and S. Habara.
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