Keith Mackie
Consulting Coastal and Harbour Engineer
Coastal Engineering
Coastal Engineering deals with the seashore, the interface between land and sea and with the construction of engineering works in this region. This is a unique environment with great aesthetic and emotional significance for most people. Construction in this region or any manipulation of this environment needs considerable skill, knowledge, experience and a sensitivity to the seashore. An inadequate approach to Coastal Engineering can be catastrophic both for the success of a project and in its impact on the environment.
Over the years, I have had to do with the whole spectrum of Coastal Engineering in all its aspects.
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BEACHES
Perhaps it is the beach we first think of when we think of the seashore. The sands of a beach are dynamic and everchanging and yet, in their own way, a stable boundary between sea and shore.
Sometimes they are just sandy tropical beaches
Where people go to enjoy the sea.
Perhaps its a great surfing beach where the waves come in long, smooth rows of curling water.
Sometimes they are tombolas, a sandy spit that links the mainland to an offshore island.
Sometimes the beach is dominated by a river that constantly shapes and reshapes it.
BREAKWATERS
But the sea is a harsh mistress.
Always, somewhere, we need protected water
And when we build artificial protection, breakwaters, these structures must withstand the full fury of oceanic storms. This is not easily done. The sea does not tolerate the weak, the inadequate, the slipshod work. Always, the sea will seek out any weakness and destroy it.
QUAYS AND JETTIES
Inside a harbour, we need structures to accommodate the vessels that will use the port.
These are two small quays, one a concrete structure for small, inshore diamond dredgers, the other a timber quay for small fishing vessels.
CORROSION
But the sea is relentless. Even in the protection of a harbour, it continues to attack the works of man — corrosion this time.
This site is dedicated to the work of Keith Mackie, Consulting Coastal & Harbour Engineer in marine structures in harbours, quays, jetties, wharfs and piers, marine corrosion and materials, in breakwaters, sea walls and revetments, and dredging. He has written textbooks on Coastal & Harbour Engineering and on the Practice of Dry Docking Ships and gives training courses in these subjects.