Impact of shoreface nourishment and breakwaters on the sediment processes of the Lithuanian nearshore

Various measures have been used to protect coastal areas controlling beach erosion. During the last decades all over the world there has been many alternatives from engineering to soft coastal defence techniques, among which artificial beach nourishment and breakwaters are particularly popular. This study evaluates the changes of sediment processes in Lithuanian nearshore using two measures of shore protection: breakwaters and shoreface nourishment. The current study aims to estimate which measure is more effective in Lithuanian nearshore. For this purpose the calculations of sediment transport were done for breakwaters and nearshore berms separately (case study area is in Baltic Sea near Palanga). The analysis is based on the results of MIKE 21 modelling system (waves, hydrodynamic processes and sediment transport) under varying climatic conditions, especially in stormy weather that has the major impact on hydrodynamic and sediment processes.