AN EXPERIMENTAL BENCHMARKING STUDY ON HYBRID COASTAL DUNE REINFORCEMENT VARIANTS

Besides the natural protection of coastal dunes against storm surges (Mehrtens et al., 2023), blue-grey-hybrid dune structures play a key role in strengthening the protective mechanism of dunes against erosion, while imitating their natural landform appearance and function (Nordstrom 2019). Although artificial dunes with hybrid core enhancements are widespreadly implemented along many coasts worldwide (Winters et al., 2020), limited work addressed the effectiveness and potential enhancement of specific dune reinforcement strategies in a comparative fashion. An exception to this statement is the work by Figlus et al (2015), who conducted a series of experiments with three incorporated dune cores: a T-wall, a clay levee and an armour stone revetment. Nonetheless, a benchmark study on the efficacy and comparative performance of hybrid dune reinforcement strategies, with an identical parameter frame remains unavailable to date.