Introduction to bed, bank and shore protection < >Engineering the interface of soil and water < > < >The interface of land and water has always played an important role in human activities; settlements are often located at coasts, river banks or deltas. When the interface consists of rock, erosion is usually negligible, but finer material can make protection necessary. In a natural situation, the interface moves freely with erosion and sedimentation. Nothing is actually wrong with erosion, unless certain interests are threatened. Erosion is somewhat like weed: as long as it does not harm any crop or other vegetation, no action is needed or even wanted. There should always be a balance between the effort to protect against erosion and the damage that would occur otherwise. < >Moreover, it should be kept in mind that, once a location is protected along a coast or riverbank that has eroded on a large scale, the protected part can induce extra erosion and in the end the whole coast or
