On Thursday 23rd June, staff and 70 students travelled to Walton-on-the-Naze to complete an investigation into the effectiveness of hard engineering management strategies on the coast.

Upon arrival, the students were quizzed about their conceptual knowledge about coastal processes and change. The students compared both a managed and unmanaged beach, looking at the effectiveness of all the management in place.

They worked in groups to collect primary data which included groyne profiles, beach profiles and sediment analysis to answer their overall enquiry question of. “How effective is hard engineering at preventing longshore drift?”

The students will now be working on analysing and presenting their results, after which they’ll write up their findings and conclusion, in preparation for their exams next year.