Coastal engineering is the design of work on the shoreline and in shallow water: bulkheads, revetments, living shorelines, groins, piers, docks, dredging, beach fill, and the upland drainage that outfalls there. The load cases are waves, currents, storm surge, and settlement — plus the Corps and coastal-program review that decides whether you get to build it.
It is a civil specialty. On the Mississippi and Alabama coast the practical problems are fetch-limited bays, boat wakes, poorly placed fill, and structures that were never designed for a hurricane.
What the engineer actually does
- Site and wave/current conditions, including storm water levels.
- Structure type and toe protection — or a living-shoreline section where the energy allows it.
- Sediment and navigation effects (you can solve your yard and create a neighbor problem).
- Drawings and specs a contractor can build, and a permit set a district can review.
How it ties to our work
Cypress Environment & Infrastructure pairs the coastal design with delineation, SAV, and 404/10/401 so the section that works on paper is the section that can be permitted. Offices in Biloxi, Mobile, and Pensacola.
Questions about how this applies to a Gulf Coast site? Cypress Environment & Infrastructure works from Biloxi, Mobile, and Pensacola. Office hours are Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Start at Contact us or Services.