Successful Management Practice Based on Studies of Shore Processes in Port Kunda, Northern Estonia

Kunda is a small industrial town with a cement factory and a pulp mill on the northern coast of Estonia. There was an urgent need for a new port in Kunda at the beginning of the 1990s. The old port, constructed in 1805, stopped operating in 1940 and remained unused until 1994. The process of creating a new port started with discussions on selecting an appropriate site. The key tasks were: (1) not to disturb the functioning of the ecosystems; (2) to avoid clogging the outlet of River Kunda and (3) to prevent erosion of the adjacent sandy beach - a popular vacation site. River Kunda is an excellent spawning ground for valuable fish species. The scientists were facing a serious challenge on how to locate and build the new port so as to control the sediment movement in the area. A stony shoal opposite the old river mouth was a sedimentation trap favouring the siltation of the river outlet in the past. To prevent that process, the riverbed had been shifted a few hundred meters west some decades earlier. Maps and plans from different times were used and instrumental surveys were performed during the preparatory stage. Negotiations were held with different stakeholders until the right place was finally determined. After constructing the port, a monitoring programme was launched to reveal possible undesirable effects. 25 year later, re-analysis was carried out to see if the decisions made in the 1990s were correct. It was found that the site selection and the measures applied had been justified. The jetties in the port favour expansion of the beach west of the port. The vessels have been served without problems and the navigation channels do not need frequent dredging. A new road, connecting the factories and the port leaves residential areas undisturbed.