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Download a zip file that includes all the web pages and downloadable files from the student materialsFor the Instructor
These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.Assessing costs and benefits
In the previous section, we considered the potential benefits of various strategies (i.e., protection against hazards). In this section, we will consider the costs associated with each strategy and weigh these against the benefits.
To prioritize implementation of your four strategies (three structural and one non-structural), complete a preliminary analysis of their cost effectiveness from your perspective as a city government employee. To begin, determine the costs associated with each structural strategy. The "potential costs" section of the table of structural strategies from the second section of this module (Structural Strategies) can help you identify the costs associated with each strategy. You may find it helpful for comparison purposes to list the costs and benefits side by side.
| Name of Structural strategy | Possible Costs | Possible Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Breakwaters | ||
| Dikes | ||
| Living Shoreline | ||
| Dune Reconstruction | ||
| Floating Construction |
Now determine the costs associated with your chosen non-structural strategy.
| Name of Non-Structural strategy | Possible Costs | Possible Benefits |
|---|---|---|
Next, give the costs and benefits for each strategy a score from 1 to 10. For costs, a score of 1 is very cheap, and a score of 10 is very expensive. For benefits, a score of 1 means not at all beneficial, and a score of 10 means very beneficial. Then divide the benefit score for each strategy by its cost score to calculate the benefit/cost ratio. You do not need to report these scores, but determining them will help you to answer the questions below.
| Name of Structural strategy | Costs score (1-10) | Benefits score (1-10) | Benefits/costs ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakwaters | |||
| Dikes | |||
| Living Shoreline | |||
| Dune Reconstruction | |||
| Floating Construction |
| Name of Non-Structural strategy | Costs score (1-10) | Benefits score (1-10) | Benefits/costs ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
Now let's consider the costs and benefits together.
- Which strategy is most cost effective (that is, has the highest benefit/cost ratio)? If two strategies are tied, choose the strategy with the highest benefits score.
- How did considering the costs as well as the benefits affect your coice of strategies? If you had considered the costs and benefits together from the beginning, would your choices of structural and non-structural strategies have been the same, or would it be different? Explain why.
Enter your answers in the Module 12 Lab Assessment .
