This road in Western Head was damaged by Hurricane Bill in 2009. (CBC)Nova Scotia's Department of Transportation is assessing how it responds to coastal road damage and whether some roads should be abandoned.

"We wanted to look at the work we'd done and see how good that was and how long it might last," said Ian McCallum, an environmental analyst.

McCallum will present some of the findings at the annual conference of the Transportation Association of Canada in Halifax this week.

In Nova Scotia, consultants examined three recent cases of coastal road damage: Queensland Beach on the South Shore, Green Bay in Lunenburg County and Western Head in Queens County.

McCallum said the most effective road protection seemed to be the seawall installed at Western Head. The wall, which cost approximately $1 million, has interlocking concrete abutments that block water that might wash in from the sea.

"It's doing the job," said McCallum. "We've saved the road from being washed out probably several times since the seawall was put in there."

McCallum said a similar solution is not likely to be acceptable at a place like Queensland Beach, because the seawall would block the view.

In that case, he said, the province may have to consider abandoning a road, moving it or defending it where it is.