Assessing the impact of massive development of beach resorts on current status of coastal erosion along the central coast of vietnam

Abstract

In recent years, the status of coastal erosion in Central Vietnam from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan has been complicated and tends to increase in both scope and level of danger. In particular, many popular beaches have been seriously eroded such as Cua Dai beach (Hoi An city), My Khe beach (Da Nang city), Nhat Le beach (Quang Binh province) etc. Erosion of some of the most beautiful beaches has been causing heavy losses of life and property, leaving long-term consequences for socio-economy and ecological environment. Besides, sea tourism in Vietnam will not be able to attract foreign tourists when beautiful beaches disappear. There are many causes of erosion and disappearance of beautiful beaches in central coastal provinces, including the causes of natural and human impacts. This paper presents and analyses the causes of human intervention on the coast when constructing beach resorts and its improper structures which caused some bad effects on beaches in nearby area. The research results show that the massive development of high-end beach resorts has directly destroyed the balance of sand exchange within the sand-sharing system. Moreover, many resorts build embankments, especially groynes which are not in accordance with the design technical standards and regulations, causing changes in the flow and sediment transport, leading to the serious erosion of popular beaches.