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The
origins of the beach drain can be traced back fifty
years to experimental work carried out by Bagnold (1940)
and Grant (1946 and 1948). A three page text covering
the history of BD technology from its origins to 1995
can be down-loaded from the following link,
BD History
(1940-1995)
Beach
drainage systems have been installed in locations around
the world to halt and reverse erosion trends in sand
beaches. Beach drainage was commercially developed by
the Danish Geotechnical Institute (GEO) over the last
20 years and was patented and licensed around the world
as “Beach Management Systems”. Over 30 BD
drainage modules have been installed since 1981 in Denmark,
USA, UK, Japan, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy
and Malaysia. Some of the earlier systems were experimental
and are no longer functioning – see
BD Systems World-wide.
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Some
coastal experts have suggested that the early promise
shown for BD technology as a suitable alternative to
other nourishment or hard structures has not been fulfilled.
In the past, it has often not been given consideration
by coastal practitioners when they assess options for
beach protection or remediation. Part of the reason
for this has been the dearth of published information
about BD technology stemming from the original business
model (patent protection and world-wide licensing) that
tended to stifle independent research. This situation
has changed radically in the last few years with two
PhD’s being completed related to BD technology
and many universities involved in the monitoring of
new systems (ref. Footprints01).
Since the last BD technology review (which covered projects
completed to 1995), twenty BD modules have been installed
within fourteen projects in UK, Japan, Spain, Denmark,
Sweden, France, Germany, Italy and Malaysia. |
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