Social costs of constructing dams and reservoirs include:

• the displacement of people due to flooding
• the loss of cultural heritage
• the resettlement of large numbers of people
• the health and well-being of affected populations both upstream and downstream

Find out more about hard engineering.

Suspension

Find out more about river transportation.

Hard engineering involves the use of heavy machinery to build artificial structures which work against nature to reduce flood risk.

Find out more about hard engineering.

The main characteristics of levees are:

• raised river banks
• consist of gravel, stones and small sediment
• steep on the channel side, gentle sloping on the land side
• relatively flat top covered in grass

Find out more about landforms in the lower course of the river.

Soft engineering involves working with nature and adapting to a river and learning to live with it.

Find out more about soft engineering.