Rivers – Hard Engineering Flashcards

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

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What is hard engineering?
Identify one social cost of dams and reservoirs
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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

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Identify one social cost of dams and reservoirs
Identify one economic benefit of dams and reservoirs
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Economic benefits of constructing dams and reservoirs include:

  • boosting tourism e.g. the local economy of Kielder has been boosted by £6 million thanks to the construction of Kielder Dam
  • they can be used to produce electricity by passing the water through a turbine within the dam

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Identify one economic benefit of dams and reservoirs
List the social economic and environmental benefits of embankments
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Social:

  • Safer from flooding due to the increased carrying capacity of the river so the risk of flooding to nearby settlements is reduced.
  • Embankments are often used for walking routes which makes the embankment a more attractive walkway for local people.

Economic:

  • Cheap compared to other methods of hard engineering

Environmental:

  • Habitats are provided for riverbank animals such as otters, voles and kingfishers

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List the social economic and environmental benefits of embankments
Give three examples of hard engineering
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Examples of hard engineering include:

  • Dams and reservoirs
  • Channel straightening
  • Embankments
  • Flood-relief channels

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Give three examples of hard engineering




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