Question

What are the advantages of using offshore breakwaters?

Answer 1

Breakwaters means a barrier built out into the sea to protect a coast or harbour from the force of waves. Breakwaters are all about erosion control. These structures will not provide any emergency protection to a beach or a home that is caught in the line of the storm. It might reduce the severity of storm waves but it will not save structure from high waves.There are two basic types of breakwater: floating and fixed. Installing fixed breakwaters may create long-term ecological hazards. Fixed breakwaters are often an eyesore, it's an aesthetically displeasing sight on the shoreline.

Breakwaters are intended to protect homes and beaches, but as man-made structures they have some aesthetic and environmental disadvantages. A well-designed floating breakwater can stop waves that are up to 6 1/2 feet high, while fixed breakwater can stop waves up to 10 feet high depending on their design and the local environment.

Answer 2

Breakwaters reduce the intensity of wave action in inshore waters and thereby reduce coastal erosion or provide safe harbourage. Breakwaters may also be small structures designed to protect a gently sloping beach and placed one to three hundred feet offshore in relatively shallow water