Areas eroding more rapidly than desired are sometimes armored by large structures designed to withstand environmental processes over a length of time. Such structures come in many different shapes and sizes. Armoring the beach, however, often comes at the expense of neighboring shorelines. Further, it can lead to something called "New Jerseyation", which refers to the armoring long stretches of beach front with inhospitable exposed rip rap, concrete walls, and other exposed construction materials in place of a former sandy beach. Safe public access to the water becomes extremely difficult when this happens.

While erosion occurs on relatively calm days, the majority of major shoreline morphological changes are during major storm events. They can last from a few hours to days and can completely reshape a beach.