a wooden wall built across a beach from land to sea. Designed in the 19th century to stop the removal of sand from beaches becoming popular with new tourists, they became important parts of many coastal protection schemes. Discredited in modern times as having too big an impact on other parts of the coast through interrupting the natural process of longshore drift by denying natural beach material to 'downdrift' sections of coast.
Geography Dictionary & Glossary for Students \\ ITS Tutorial School (ITS) - Hong Kong.