Coastal Construction Manual - National Ready Mixed Concrete ...

1 CHAPTER TITLE
COASTAL CONSTRUCTION MANUAL
3Identifying Hazards
Buildings constructed in coastal areas are subject to natural hazards. The most significant natural hazards
that affect the coastlines of the United States and territories can be divided into four general categories:
Coastal flooding (including waves)
Erosion
High winds
Earthquakes
This chapter addresses each of these categories, as well
as other hazards and environmental effects, but focuses
on flooding and erosion (Sections 3.4 and 3.5). These
two hazards are among the least understood and the
least discussed in design and construction documents.
Designers have numerous resources available that
discuss wind and seismic hazards in detail, so they will
be dealt with in less detail here.
In order to construct buildings to resist these natural
hazards and reduce existing buildings’ vulnerability
to such hazards, proper planning, siting, design, and
construction are critical and require an understanding
of the coastal environment, including coastal geology,
coastal processes, regional variations in coastline
characteristics, and coastal sediment budgets. Proper
siting and design also require accurately assessing the
CROSS REFERENCE
For resources that augment the guidance
and other information in this Manual, see
the Residential Coastal Construction
Web site (http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/
mat/fema55.shtm).
WARNING
Natural hazards can act individually, but
often act in combination (e.g., high winds
and coastal flooding, coastal flooding
and erosion, etc.). Long-term changes in
underlying conditions—such as sea level
rise—can magnify the adverse effects
of some of these hazards. For more
information on load combinations, see
Chapter 8.
COASTAL CONSTRUCTION MANUAL
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