i'd rather them put the money to an artificial reef to protect against erosion... edit: I agree with the post before mine.
There has to be some way we can let the tax paying public know that this is a total was of their money and we need a better solution like a reef that would create an off shore break. this is just getting stupid. Some is going to die because of this bullsh!t.
I thought about this a while back. Why dont they remove all the jetties from a set area and combine them into a major headland. Similar to the Manasquan Inlet, only higher and further out to sea. Then, use the canvas filled bags to create some type of point. I figured this would create a HUGE beach, epic waves, and help stop the sand from moving north. Something similar to the superbank except A Lot smaller. Lastly, it could block those sh*tty south or north wind days.
I wouldn't be so quick to say that the replenished beaches will return within a few years. Yes, in some cases it has. examples: long branch, monmouth beach. But one case in particular has yet to return to its old self. That being Sea Bright. They replenished SB way back in 1996/1997 just before I was going to college. I remember vividly getting a week + of great hurricane surf my last week before leaving for school. That was the last time I surfed SB. The waves continue to break only 5-10 feet from shore. The Corps f***ed that place up. I finally saw a bit of promise this summer after the hurricane hit us. Now Monmouth Beach will be getting replenished this fall/winter. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that this will help breaks to the north and not screw them up again.
Beach replenishment may or may not be a necessary evil, but jobs that don't add value don't keep the economy going. Now, we can argue whether or not these jobs add value due to the whole no tourism with no beach issue, but put that issue aside for the moment. Paying people to move sand around every few years does NOT add value to the economy. It simply takes money from one place (i.e. tax payers) and moves it somewhere else (i.e. the people moving sand). While that may be better for the people moving sand, on the whole, these types of things destroy value in an economy. A more permanent solution is in order as you mention, cgilhorn.
Get this, Fenwick Island DE did beach replenishment during the beginning of August and shut down a good portion of what beach they have. Irene came, Irene went and the beach looked exactly like it did before the replenishment. Did replenishment do what it should? YES, but the turn-a-round was only a few days, no joke. Not to mention, the dredge hit a slit or clay deposit and made water clarity absolute sh!t but did give it a gulf of mexico color.
Compared to the realized property tax revenue, it's a bargain to pump sand on the East Coast beaches...
Tourism is good for the local economy. You've got your head in the sand if you don't believe it. So yea... wide beaches are a shot in the economic arm for almost everybody... from the corner market, to the local barber, to the pizzeria down the street. Plus the summer jobs for the groms... plus tackle shops... plus the bathing pavilions... the list goes on. I have nothing against big, sandy beaches. I have something against the way they're being created, which is without regard to ecology, habitat and recreation - specifically surfing and fishing. The way to address all of this is clearly well engineered artificial reef systems. They can protect property, stabilize the shoreline, AND provide habitat for fish and those other scaly, crusty animals... surfers. We need to look at natural shorelines that maintain a state of dynamic equilibrium and re-create that as accurately as possible. The damage was done a long time ago, when we developed the coastline. Now we need to push engineering forward, into the future to solve the problem, because we can't go back. But we have this crazy aversion to change, and keep clinging hopelessly to what's familiar, without regard to efficacy. We just pump the beaches and plan on coming back in another 5-7 years. Lets face it... most people don't fish, and don't surf, so most people don't care. Ignorance is bliss. Artificial reefs are not some radical concept that's never been tested. It's the typical, "business as usual" approach that's killing us.
If a replenished beach is the only thing to wash away during a storm, then the beach replenishment was successful. Had a beach not been there in the first place properties behind the beach would likely suffer more damage. It's easier on the properties to keep replacing the beach than otherwise. It also helps with tourism to have a nice wide sandy beach. A lot of people like to sunbathe, even though the ozone layer is damaged, and those people bring a lot of money to the shore towns. If you're not happy with beach replenishment, buy a house between Mantoloking and Seaside. We haven't had replenishment here since the 1962 storm, I believe, so even though our waves here are still closed out junk most of the time, at least you will never have to witness sand burying a spectacular break.
Breaks don't always come right back after a big storm.... Think of the cove at Sandy Hook SP which will never be the same...Think of 7th Street in OCNJ... They may never come back.
Thanks for posting my comment Capt Jaq. That was me who wrote the stuff about “pissing into the wind”. Here’s some more of what I think about beach replenishment. Let’s talk about a place familiar to us all; Hawaii, more specifically Oahu’s north shore. They don’t partake in “beach replenishment”, their homes are right on the beach, and there aren’t any sand dunes or jetties. They have large, powerful surf most of the year (10-20ft+ surf is common). In Oahu the big waves break on various reefs. Despite the consistently heavy surf, homes and beaches remain intact. Local business thrives and also remains unaffected. Clearly the reefs are what keep everything in check. As surfers we know you can’t fight the sea in any way because you lose every time. Working with the ways of the sea is a different story. Like I said before, the ENGINEERS are “pissing into the wind” with millions of our tax dollars. It’s sad and it’s f##king dumb. If they just did a bit of research and looked around the world at how the ocean actually works they could save millions of our TAX dollars. Instead teachers, cops, and firemen are losing their jobs while millions of dollars are pissed away “replenishing sand”. They should be ashamed.
7th street is indefinetly screwed. That break hasn't been actually breaking for years now, 8th street isn't much better
Exactly... The concept, distilled down to the most basic element, is (and we all know this) you can't fight nature. You have to go with it. Looking at natural, dynamic ecosystems as models, we need to re-create as best we can what works naturally. Nature does not dredge sand in once place and plop it down in another. The movement of sand is seasonally rhythmic and predictable. We need to engineer a shoreline stabilization program that works with this process, not against it. This means multiple reefs of appropriate size and orientation, designed specifically for each location in need of protection. The saddest thing is... there IS a solution. It's just a bit too far out of our comfort zone to implement at this time. Maybe the next generation will be more progressive thinkers. Get this... the Army Corps of Engineers, the ones who designed and built the seawalls and jetties and groins, and the ones now in charge of designing our current beach replenishment programs, had this to say in a final report back in the mid 90's: "According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the most important cause of human-induced erosion is interruption of sediment sources and longshore sediment transport. Examples include the armoring of sediment sources with seawalls, revetments, and bulkheads, and the interruption of longshore sediment transport by the construction of groins and jetties." OK... so let's let these geniuses keep doing what they're doing, and see what happens in another 50 years.
Beach replenishment definetly changes where the waves break and that sucks at first but thwaves come back even better after a time, albiet maybe a different spot. Thats how beach breaks work even without replenishment. The money spent on these projects is beleive it or not a drop in the bucket. The broader beaches are worth it. The real solution is protective artificial reefs. Unfortunatly you would have to drop miles and miles of rock offshore to really make a difference. It not really possible. The army corps knows the sand wil wash away reletively quickly. Its really a condition of coastal development and maintenance thereof. Support these kinds of efforts and you end up getting a permanent sand pumping system like in Kirra, Australia. Their project has its own website. Present that kind of info to local commissioners and you might have a superbank of your own in your backyard. Be part of a solution instead of *****ing.
