Clever Climate Adaptation Solution Versus Coastal Erosion at Granity NZ

Granity, a small town on the West Coast of New Zealand known as the “capital of coastal erosion”, is in danger of being wiped out by the Tasman Sea.

The town’s coast has been eroding for many years, but its hardy residents refuse to give up their property and land to the ocean.

For years, the town’s only defence has been a temporary rock wall to protect itself from storm surges when storms hit and from the steady lapping of ocean water on their coast.

Martin Hill, a resident and one of the locals who have come up with the idea of permanent seawall protection, says that these temporary rocks, no matter how big you make them, will always wash out to sea.

So, together with a group of locals, they have found a more permanent solution to fight off coastal erosion using a network of interlocking concrete blocks to form a beach fortress – a clever engineering solution designed to increase the town’s resilience to climate change impacts.

These hexagon-shaped concrete blocks interlock into each other and look like puzzle pieces stacked up to form a sturdy fortress. Each weighs 200 tonnes.

It took the town four years to produce these concrete hexagons. The 200 concrete pieces are being installed and trialled in this small coastal town.

If these hexagonal pieces can fight off coastal erosions, which the locals of Granity seemed to be pretty confident about, then this smart climate adaptation solution could be used in cities and towns experiencing or being threatened with the same problem due to climate change.

To learn more about this innovative climate adaptation solution, click on the link below:

PHOTO CREDIT: Images grabbed from the TVNZ One News Video