Indonesia is moving toward a massive 575-kilometre long “Giant Sea wall” that converts the northern coast of Java into a concrete fortification and oversees arresting coastal erosion, thereby safeguarding millions of city dwellers against landslides, rising sea levels and severe land subsidence.
The project will span the Banten- Jakarta-Indonesia’s northern coast up to East Java, one of Indonesia’s most urbanized and economically developed coastal corridors. There are also considerable populations in northern Java, including important industrial and urban centers, who are living in that area.
The threat is growing because of land subsidence. With ground water extraction as one of the main drivers, certain parts of North Jakarta and Central Java, such as in the vicinity of Semarang and Pekalongan, have suffered sink strains ranging from about 10 to 20 cm per year. Sea-level rise is imposing additional stresses at vulnerable communities.
Indonesia’s proposed defense will be based on a combination of protection measures, including concrete barriers, and the adoption of a more flexible approach that involves integrating them with other methods. Seawalls and dikes will be complemented by mangrove belts, coastal wetlands and artificial reefs, all of which help to decrease wave energy, erosion and capture sediment.
The project has been structured into 15 strategic segments including areas where risks are high, namely around the Jakarta Bay, and industrial corridors in Java Central areas, where priority is expected. The strategy will provide flood protection, while also restoring ecological functions and enhancing the resilience of the coast.
The total estimated cost is in the vicinity of $80 billion, to be paid through government funding, public private partnerships and support from international infrastructure investors.
The Giant Sea Wall is one of Indonesia’s responses to ever increasing sea coastal risks. But engineers have stressed that its settling coastline is a problem for which they do not have the answer. Future management of the groundwater extraction would also be necessary for the sustainability of the project and restoration of the natural coastal systems.
The project, if fully realized, can be one of the largest coastal adaptation infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia, and at the same time a big pilot of climate adaptation using NbS approaches in combination with large-scale shoreworks infrastructure.
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