This was why many lighthouses were built on rocky shoals. Those constructed near the shores or on sand bars were never considered as permanent structures. As time passed the function of being a lighthouse in some cases morphed into tourist attractions even some have had buildings constructed around them turning them into resort lodges or Hotels, but much of this had been done prior to the ships becoming ever increasingly larger. Modern navigation technologies have all but negated the need for lighthouses. But the larger ships are the problem their water displacement creates and changes the direction of off shore waves causing erosion to be more severe. A shipping lane located just a few miles off coast can cause as much erosion in a year as a mid range hurricane can.
I read an article a couple decades ago explaining the damages that the barge traffic causes to the shorelines of navigable rivers. It doesn't require a lot of thinking to correlate what a fleet of super tankers or container ships could do in as little as 12 miles or less off shore.
Saving these lighthouses especially the ones with historical significance is going to be an on going monumental task.

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