Local emergency works for coastal risk defense

The Ionian coast of Basilicata (Southern Italy) is strongly affected by erosion processes inducing severe critical condition for both urban areas and local tourism economy. In the recent past, various research activities aimed to the study of the coastal erosion phenomena were especially conducted on the Metaponto Lido area where some experimental interventions were built up too. The results of these activities highlight a heterogeneous erosion process acting on the whole Ionian-Lucanian coast principally due to the drastic reduction of sediment supply from river catchments and to the coastal infrastructure system expansion. In the last years such scenario evolved from “ordinary” environmental risk up to civil protection setting due to the increasing of the coastal inundation risk. In this paper, an experimental and temporary intervention with a low environmental impact and able to mitigate and contrast the coastal risk carried out on the Metaponto Lido beach is presented. The intervention aimed to reduce the storm damage, for both town safety and beach erosion, arranging a “no structural” stone barrier all shore long periodically moved out-beach once the storm set down. Such maintenance, performed during the 2010 winter-spring season, produced natural beach nourishment with a sensitive average coastline advancing.