Hard engineering. In civil engineering of shorelines, hard engineering is controlled disruption of natural processes by using man-made structures. Hard engineering is using man-made objects to help natural problems. Effects Hard engineering can cause consequences, such as new erosion and altered sedimentation - sand deposition patterns, that are detrimental to the immediate human and natural environment or along down-coast locations and habitats. Examples. Examples of hard engineering include: Groynes - wooden walls that reduce longshore drift