Beach Drainage Erosion Protection - BDEP

Large, unprotected parts of our coastlines are eroding away. The erosion threatens the recreational use of beaches as well as structures along the coastline and has a direct impact on local, state, and national economies.
Beach Drainage Erosion Protection, BDEP, is a system to restore and stabilize beaches by the reinforcement of natural processes. It is both discrete and environmentally friendly. The system has been developed at and patented by GEO.

BDEP works by absorbing the part of the wave energy that causes erosion. Thereby, BDEP causes more sand to be deposited on the beach and halts coastal erosion. BDEP is individually engineered to stabilize the coastline at each specific site. It consists of a series of filter-encased drainage pipes buried along the coastline, a connecting well, a pumping station and a discharge pipe. The discarded, filtered water can be used in swimming pools, desalination plants, for fish farming or merely returned to the sea. 

Already implemented on beaches around the world, BDEP has proved its worth. Beaches in USA, Malaysia and France are no longer eroding away. In Lido di Ostia, Italy, the BDEP-system has resulted in a 10-20 metres wider beach and in Les Sables d'Olonne in France, BDEP has widened the beach by 50 metres (see pictures below).

            
Les Sables d'Olonne 1997                                               Les Sables d'Olonne 2007      

• Model of the BDEP system
• Consultancy service
• Completed projects
• Aerial photos of 4 completed projects

For further information on BDEP, please contact:
M.Sc. Civil Engineering Carsten Bonde, crb@geo.dk

Our partner
For contracting and consulting, we cooperate with Ecoplage. For further information, go to www.ecoplage.com.