Soft coastal protection measures for Langue de Barbarie and Saint Louis, Senegal - Dynamics and potential long-term evolution of the proposed solutions

Abstract

This report presents the methodology and results of a study of the sediment dynamics and potential medium-term coastline evolution induced by hybrid-type coastal protection solutions for the Langue de Barbarie and the city of Saint-Louis, Senegal. The analysed solutions considered four designs of an artificial island, or a peninsula/spit connected to the mainland. The study includes gathering of study site data, preparation of model inputs, set-up and calibration of the shoreline evolution model ShorelineS, simulations of the potential coastal evolution for the proposed interventions, and critical and comparative analysis. The model succeeded in reproducing the main coastline modifications observed during the calibration period (2015 to 2019). It was found that any of the proposed hybrid solutions are likely to trigger substantial instabilities in the delicate sediment dynamics of Langue de Barbarie, eventually breaching this spit not far from the city of Saint-Louis. The analysis of alternative soft solutions led to similar conclusions.