Protecting the Central Coast - Part 1: Establishing a 'defensive line' to protect the coast

The Central Coast region has a long coastline, with many of the world's most beautiful beaches and is an important space for local marine economic development. However, coastal erosion and land encroachment have spread and become complicated, lasting for many years, directly threatening people's lives and causing great economic losses.

Faced with this urgent issue, provinces and cities in the region have made efforts to implement many projects to build dykes to prevent landslides, build underground dykes to reduce offshore waves, and carry out beach nourishment... with huge investment resources. This is a complex issue in the general picture of climate change and there is no solution to ensure absolute sustainable coastal protection. However, some solutions implemented in recent times have shown initial effectiveness. To clarify this process, VNA reporters have produced a series of three articles on the topic: Protecting the "silk strip" of the central coast.

A section of seawater eroding deep into the shore at My Khe beach ( Da Nang ). Photo: Tran Le Lam/VNA

Lesson 1: Establishing a "defensive line" to protect the coast

About 10 years ago, many coastal areas in the Central Coast region entered a period of strong fluctuations when landslides and wave erosion rapidly advanced inland, causing serious economic consequences and directly threatening the lives of the community. Localities have made efforts to deploy many urgent measures to respond immediately to prevent and gradually conduct research to understand the causes and mechanisms of erosion, thereby implementing dike projects to establish a "defensive line" to protect the coast.

Dedicate resources to keeping the beach

Da Nang is a centrally-governed city with the longest coastline in Vietnam, with more than 200 km. This is a coastal city heavily affected by climate change due to rising sea levels as well as widespread coastal erosion, which has been complicated in recent times. According to the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation Management of Da Nang City, the situation of beach changes and instability in recent times has been relatively complicated, especially at My Khe, Cua Dai, Tam Tien beaches and some sections of the southern coast of the city, seriously affecting infrastructure, tourism activities and livelihoods of coastal communities. Da Nang City has declared a natural disaster emergency in landslide areas on the beach and deployed warnings of dangers and handling with temporary embankments...

Up to now, Da Nang city has spent more than 1,600 billion VND to promptly prevent erosion and protect the coastline, with a number of large projects implemented such as the 550m long Tam Tien Coastal Protection Embankment, the 1.5km long Tam Hai Coastal Protection Embankment and especially the overall project cluster to prevent erosion and sustainably protect the coastline in the Cua Dai - Hoi An area with a length of about 7km.

With a coastline of nearly 128 km, Hue city is located in a position considered the "center" of storms and floods in the Central region. In recent years, Hue city has been continuously affected by many storms, tropical depressions and intensified cold air causing heavy rains, combined with the terrain of short and steep rivers, the imbalance of alluvium, mud and sand in the river and other causes leading to extremely complicated riverbank and coastal erosion. In September 2025, due to the impact of storm No. 10 BUALOI and consecutive previous natural disasters, the coastal section of Hoa Duan residential group (Thuan An ward) suffered a very severe landslide with a length of about 1 km, breaking the concrete road in front of coastal businesses. The coastline was eroded by waves 50 - 70m deep into the mainland, affecting the lives of hundreds of households as well as essential infrastructure works and the risk of opening a new sea gate.

The sea embankment of Thuan An ward, Hue city is affected by big waves caused by storm No. 10. Photo: Nguyen Ly/VNA

According to Mr. Dang Van Hoa, Head of the Hue City Department of Irrigation and Climate Change, in recent years, with many capital sources from the Central, local and other legal capital sources, the city has invested in a coastal anti-erosion embankment with a length of more than 9.8 km. In addition, the city has implemented the project of stabilizing and dredging the Thuan An estuary phase 1 and the project of stabilizing and dredging the Tu Hien estuary. Currently, the invested works and projects of riverbank and coastal anti-erosion embankment are operating normally, promoting efficiency, bringing a stable life to the people, contributing to the socio-economic development of the city.

In Quang Ngai province, to respond to coastal erosion, the Provincial People's Committee also issued Plan No. 158/KH-UBND dated November 12, 2021 to implement the Project on preventing and combating riverbank and coastal erosion until 2030. In particular, the locality focuses on organizing the review and proposing a list of coastal erosion points in the Plan for developing irrigation infrastructure associated with natural disaster prevention in Quang Ngai province for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 and integrated into the Provincial Planning as a basis for implementing remedial solutions, ensuring comprehensiveness, comprehensiveness and high efficiency when investing. From 2020 to now, Quang Ngai province has invested hundreds of billions of VND to overcome 12 particularly dangerous coastal erosion points, with a length of over 10km with solid embankments.

With a coastline stretching up to thousands of kilometers, the provinces and cities in the Central Coast region have been implementing many "hard" and "soft" solutions at coastal erosion points, creating "defensive lines" to respond and prevent the wave from eroding deep into the mainland. Up to now, most of these projects have effectively overcome erosion, gradually stabilizing people's lives, creating environmental landscapes, and developing coastal infrastructure.

Eliminate landslide "hotspots"

The coast of Van Tuong commune is located in the northern region of Quang Ngai province. Since 2020, landslides have frequently occurred here due to high tides, sweeping away many houses and traffic infrastructure in residential areas along the coast. At the end of 2023, Quang Ngai province completed the construction of the coastal embankment project in Phuoc Thien 1 and Phuoc Thien 2 villages (Van Tuong commune), ensuring the safety of life and property for about 400 households. The project is 300m long with a total investment of 25 billion VND. This embankment project, along with 2km of Van Tuong commune embankment phase I and II and embankments of Thanh Thuy and Phuoc Thien villages, which were urgently invested in before, have basically eliminated the "hotspots" of landslides at vulnerable locations along the coast of Van Tuong.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh, hamlet 4, Phuoc Thien 1 village shared that living in the "front of the wave", during the rainy and stormy season, many households in the village are always in a state of insecurity. In previous years, some families had to leave their hometowns and go to make a living elsewhere. Since the sea dykes were built solidly, there has been no more coastal erosion, houses and infrastructure in coastal residential areas have been protected from strong waves, and people have felt secure in staying in the village and the sea to make a living.

Nearly 30 km south of Van Tuong coast, the Ky Xuyen, Khe Tan (Tinh Khe commune), and Pho Truong (An Phu commune) sea dykes were also invested and completed in 2021-2022, contributing to preventing landslides and protecting hundreds of households living along the coast of Quang Ngai province. Recently, Quang Ngai province has deployed two "urgent" dyke projects to overcome coastal landslides in the Sa Can and An Phu estuaries.

According to Mr. Nguyen Viet Xuan, Project Management Department 3, Quang Ngai Province Traffic Project Management Board, the embankment project to overcome erosion in the Sa Can estuary area has a length of 500m with a total investment of 45 billion VND. Currently, the project is being accelerated, striving to complete by the end of November 2025, contributing to protecting 92 households with 270 people living along the estuary, thereby helping people feel secure during this year's storm season.

In Da Nang city, in recent years, Cua Dai beach has also recorded a strong "revival" of coastal sand beaches. Previously, this area was a typical "hot spot" in the Central region for coastal erosion, causing serious consequences in many aspects; including tourism development. Waves have eroded deep into the mainland in some locations up to more than 100m, many beautiful beaches have disappeared. Some resorts have had to be abandoned because the waves approached the foot of the embankment, seriously threatening the villas located close to the coast.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh, Hoi An Dong ward (Da Nang city), who sells drinks at Cua Dai beach, shared that in the past 4 years, since the State implemented the underwater wave-breaking dike project offshore, combined with beach nourishment solutions, coastal erosion has decreased by about 80% compared to before. As the coast gradually recovers, tourists return to swim in the sea, and service business activities gradually become bustling again.

Meanwhile, coastal erosion at famous tourist beaches in Lam Dong province, such as Ham Tien - Mui Ne area, is also being gradually controlled. Vice Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai said that with nearly 27 km of protective embankments invested by the State, along with more than 3.5 km of embankments of various types built by resort owners and tourism businesses themselves, it has contributed to preventing strong coastal erosion at vulnerable locations, creating favorable conditions for tourism development, seafood fishing, and ensuring social security for the people.

According to Professor, Dr. Thieu Quang Tuan, University of Water Resources, coastal erosion occurring during storms and tropical depressions is inevitable, this is an acute form of erosion. However, with this form of erosion, most of the mud and sand of the coast are not lost but only carried offshore and thus the coast will gradually recover after the storm when the waves are small.

The Central Coast is also subject to wave activity during the Northeast and Southwest monsoons, so the coastline position also fluctuates according to the seasonal cycle of the year. Specifically, in the winter when the waves are big, the coastline position will often be further inland and in the summer the coastline will move back towards the sea. This is the natural seasonal fluctuation of the coastline, not erosion.

The third type of erosion, chronic erosion, is truly serious. Chronic erosion occurs even under normal weather conditions and is caused by an imbalance of sediment along the shoreline. Chronic erosion often occurs in the vicinity of river mouths that were previously rich in sediment.

With both acute erosion during storms and seasonal beach fluctuations, it is essential to establish a safety corridor along the coast wide enough to allow natural beach fluctuations to occur without intervention. Construction of infrastructure within this oscillation corridor should be strictly limited. Erosion will become more serious if there is a combination of chronic erosion with both acute and seasonal erosion on the coastline.

Lesson 2: The war is not over yet

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/bao-ve-dai-lua-bo-bien-mien-trung-bai-1-lap-phong-tuyen-giu-bo-bien-20251011075225879.htm