Army corps of engineers heading to NJ

they never park the barge right on the bar & pull sand from there onto the beach. the barge is frequently located miles offshore, pulling sand off the bottom & then sending it through a pipeline to the beach. the ACoE doesn't take the time to a proper analysis of the type of sand it's parking the dredge over to do these projects. sand is sand, they think. the local, surfable bars are destroyed by the flattening of the beaches as they are expanded eastward. even assuring a proper grain match won't prevent that from happening in the short term. so again i'll ask-how do you propose replenishing the beaches w/out dredging?

 

I thought sometimes they actually pulled sand right from the bar! I've seen the result being so bad and the drop off so steep I figured they just took the sand right off the bar! I guess I was mistaken then about that.

If they use the right grain of sand....all you need is few strong nor'easters and the surf break will start the process of building back to what it was.. The worst case scenario is wrong type of sand used. Than the break has extremely long term/sometime permanent damage done to it.

I read an article about how you can also have the corps fill the beaches with sand without flattening them. Fill one area and than that sand will naturally drift over. Fill at angles too. As long as the right grain is used it will work and actually costs less money with better result!

 

For a long time, they thought grain size was important. Then they thought it wasn't due to some really bad research that was done. Since then, more studies have been done, and once again they think grain size matters.

One recent project in Northern Mon Co used a combination of grain sizes... they'd take from two borrow areas, one with small grain size, and one with larger grain size, and they attempted to "layer" it. Not very effective...

 

it's all in how they "design" the profile/slope of the beach when they pump the sand onto it. the ACoE doesn't take into account the natural profile of the beach they're working on, they just try to engineer one that will dissipate wave energy most efficiently. they have zero interest in protecting or creating surfable beaches.

your theory about the proper sand grain is sound, but in practical terms, expensive. that's why they don't take the time to survey the sea floor to find the proper grain type. it adds time & cost to something that's already expensive.

 

Yeah slope is also super important. Longer more gradual sanbar and natural beaches are NEVER flat the the way they pump them. Natural beaches are more beautiful and have peaks and dips in them.

Exactly. They don't give a ****! That's why people need to speak up as much as they can. Write emails/letters ect. At least try. Nothing ever gets done if people put their head in the sand and say/do nothing!