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 A section of the Sea Wall in Georgetown | |
| Location | Guyana |
|---|---|
| Length | 280 miles |
The Sea Wall is a 280-mile seawall that runs along much of Guyana's coastline, including all of the coastline in the capital city of Georgetown. It protects settlements in the coastal areas of Guyana, most of which are below sea level at high tide. [1] [2] [3]
Seawalls are necessary because of constant erosion of land by the sea. Historians note that two estates, Kierfield and Sandy Point, known to be existing in 1792 north of the present Georgetown Seawall, were completely washed away by 1804.
Tables of erosion and accretion, started by G. O. Case and maintained by the government, showed that accretion in the early 1840s was followed by erosion in the late 1840s. By 1855, the great Kingston Flood took place when the sea-dam, an earthen wall, was breached. It inundated the Kingston ward of Georgetown and washed away Camp House (the former residence for governors of the colony).
It was after this catastrophe that the sea wall between Fort William Frederick and the Round House was started in 1858. Built principally by convict labor with granite from the Penal Settlement at Mazaruni (now Mazaruni Prison), the first section, which ran from Fort Groyne to Round House was completed by 1860. In 1874, the Public Works department of British Guiana committed to the construction of a continuous wall from Camp Street to Kitty. By 1882, the Sea Wall had been extended to reach as far as Unity Village [2] [3] and it was completed in 1892
In 1903 the Georgetown Seawall Bandstand was built with funds subscribed by the public as a memorial to Queen Victoria. The shelter north of the bandstand, called the Koh-i-noor Shelter, was erected in 1903.
Serious flooding resulting from breaches in the sea wall took place at Enmore in 1955, at Buxton in 1959, and at Bladen Hall in 1961.
A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. The purpose of a levee is to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. Levees can be naturally occurring ridge structures that form next to the bank of a river, or be an artificially constructed fill or wall that regulates water levels. Ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China all built levees. Today, levees can be found around the world, and failures of levees due to erosion or other causes can be major disasters.
Georgetown is the capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is the retail and administrative and financial services centre of the country, and the city accounts for a large portion of Guyana's GDP. The city recorded a population of 118,363 in the 2012 census.
The Geography of Guyana comprises the physical characteristics of the country in Northern South America and part of Caribbean South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Suriname and Venezuela, with a land area of approximately 214,969 square km. The country is situated between 1 and 9 north latitude and between 56 and 62 west longitude. With a 459 km (285 mi)-long Atlantic coastline on the northeast, Guyana is bounded by Venezuela on the west, Brazil on the west and south, and Suriname on the east.
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward retreat of the shoreline can be measured and described over a temporal scale of tides, seasons, and other short-term cyclic processes. Coastal erosion may be caused by hydraulic action, abrasion, impact and corrosion by wind and water, and other forces, natural or unnatural.
Demerara is a historical region in the Guianas on the north coast of South America which is now part of the country of Guyana. It was a Dutch colony until 1815 and a county of British Guiana from 1838 to 1966. It was located about the lower courses of the Demerara River, and its main town was Georgetown.
Tabontebike is the village on the south end of Abaiang, atoll in Kiribati. There are 379 residents of the village.
A seawall is a form of coastal defence constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides, waves, or tsunamis. As a seawall is a static feature it will conflict with the dynamic nature of the coast and impede the exchange of sediment between land and sea. The shoreline is part of the coastal interface which is exposed to a wide range of erosional processes arising from flowing water sources, wind and terrestrial sources, meaning that a combination of denudational processes will work against a seawall.
New Amsterdam is the regional capital of East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana and one of the country's largest towns. It is 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the capital, Georgetown and located on the eastern bank of the Berbice River, 6 km (4 mi) upriver from its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, and immediately south of the Canje River. New Amsterdam's population is 17,329 inhabitants as of 2012.
Bartica, Essequibo, is a town on the left bank of the Essequibo River in Cuyuni-Mazaruni, at the confluence of the Cuyuni and Mazaruni Rivers with the Essequibo River in Guyana. It is the regional capital of Cuyuni-Mazaruni.
Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in sea level damage beaches and coastal systems are expected to rise at an increasing rate, causing coastal sediments to be disturbed by tidal energy.
Swash, or forewash in geography, is a turbulent layer of water that washes up on the beach after an incoming wave has broken. The swash action can move beach materials up and down the beach, which results in the cross-shore sediment exchange. The time-scale of swash motion varies from seconds to minutes depending on the type of beach. Greater swash generally occurs on flatter beaches. The swash motion plays the primary role in the formation of morphological features and their changes in the swash zone. The swash action also plays an important role as one of the instantaneous processes in wider coastal morphodynamics.
Essequibo was a Dutch colony on the Essequibo River in the Guiana region on the north coast of South America from 1616 to 1814. The colony formed a part of the colonies that are known under the collective name of Dutch Guiana.
The Mahaicony River is a small river in northern Guyana that drains into the Atlantic Ocean. Mahaicony village is found at the mouth of the river.
The National Cultural Centre, the premier auditorium for cultural presentations in Georgetown, Guyana. It is on Homestretch Avenue, in D’Urban Park. It hosts theatre, music, and dance as well as other events.
Beach evolution occurs at the shoreline where sea, lake or river water is eroding the land. Beaches exist where sand accumulated from centuries-old, recurrent processes that erode rocky and sedimentary material into sand deposits. River deltas deposit silt from upriver, accreting at the river's outlet to extend lake or ocean shorelines. Catastrophic events such as tsunamis, hurricanes, and storm surges accelerate beach erosion.
Stewartville is a village district in Guyana on the Atlantic coast of West Demerara, just east of the mouth of the Essequibo River. There are four sections in the village: Stewartville Housing Scheme, Sarah Lodge, Stewartville Old Road and Stewartville Sea View.
The Georgetown Seawall Bandstand is an iron bandstand that is situated on the western end of Georgetown Seawall in Guyana. It is one of three bandstands in Georgetown, the other two being situated in the Botanical Gardens and the Promenade Gardens.
The 2005 Georgetown flood was a major flood in and around Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. It started during heavy rains in 2004, and came to a head in January, when sustained heavy rains and high tides over-topped the deteriorating water conservancy. Approximately 290,000 people were affected and the economic impact was estimated to be about US$465 million, or 59% of Guyana's GDP.
Squatting in Guyana is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Squatting has been used as a means to find housing by people displaced by conflict in the 1960s and by internal migrants from the 1980s onwards. In 2015, there were estimated to be over 100,000) squatters across the country. The government announced the National Squatter Regularisation Commission (NSRC) and the State Land Resettlement Commission in 2020, in the following year it allied with UN-HABITAT to create the Guyana Strategy for Informal Settlements Upgrading and Prevention (GSISUP) which aims to regularize all informal settlements by 2030.
Kingston is a former village in Demerara. In 1837, it became a ward of Georgetown. The ward is located along the Atlantic Ocean coast. Kingston is home to many landmarks and historic buildings.
sea wall 280 miles.