Say Goodbye to Surfing in NJ

oh boy looks like more influx of new jersians to other breaks...if they can beat the gauntlet of traffic out of their state

 

Wow we can spend half the money on artificial reefs. But exactly How does beach replenishment destroy waves? Does it still destroy waves if the break is not dependent on sand bars. How long is the recovery?

 

this will be very problematic, they still havent figured out how to fill the sand in in a safe way for beachgoers, a few years ago when the replenished the beaches in harvey cedars there was a rise in impact injuries from swimmers being slammed into the sand by waves. the beach along the waters edge was so steep that it created powerful shorebreak unsafe for most swimmers and now they want to do this all over again....

 

I was just looking at the 7th street OC surf cam. Did they just "fix" the beaches there? if so, its a great example of there goes the break!!!

 

Everyone on here constantly b!tching about beach nourishment. A couple days after they finished filling north street in OC, we got a swell and it was some of the best ive ever seen north street break. i think everyone just likes to hop on the i hate beachfills bandwagon.

 

SJF - good to hear since they dont seem to be rolling in gently on the cam. Maybe i'll see you out there this next swell after i finish shoveling the new gravel around my driveway to replace what sandy gifted to my neighbors.

 

Beach fills have destroyed waves in Delmarva...
Its not just if they fill beaches, but how they go about it.
For example, the type of sand they has an impact.
One of our beaches got filled in with coarse grained sand, and completely destroyed the sand bars, where previously fine grained sand was used and it wasn't a big deal.

I've also heard of beach fills, building up better sand bars in areas down current from the fill.

Beach towns are going to keep doing the endless cycle of replenishment, because it is their best economic option. The other option is to concede defeat to the ocean and retreat away from the shoreline, but I dont see that happening any time soon. Unfortunately, outside of our surf breaks, the tax payers are the victims for the home owners and businesses who setup camp right on the shore.

 

Wait till Mitchell Chimes in. He knows why it kills beaches, has something to do with grain size.

 

Just go to Delaware if you want to see the effects of beach replenishment

 

Dude... if there was a reason not to hate these kinds of projects, believe me... I wouldn't be hating. But because I've experienced nothing BUT negative impacts from beach replenishment on surfing in my area, I'll by the first to say "let me lead the haters' bandwagon."

Your comment shows EXACTLY why a one-size-fits-all concept of beach replenishment does not work. Replenishment efforts have to be SITE SPECIFIC... what works in one area, fails in another. It's the total lack of engineering that causes the problems. It's like a giant organized crime operation... a big "make work" job. It's borderline criminal in my mind to intentionally spend mountains of taxpayer money on something that you know is sub-standard, temporary, outdated, and futile.

 

the question becomes "what can we do about this? how can we fight it?"

please, enlighten me. **** this.

 

they are taking bids for dredging in rockaway beach. we need it. beaches have been washing away for 30 years. However, the sandbars are so far out right now Im not so sure the dredging will kill them.

 

if there are still jetties in place i'd think the sandbars will reform and guessing removing jetties would be very difficult and expensive but i haven't lived up here long enough to see it first hand.

 

It's true... I spent the first week of april up there and was surprised how surfable it was after just being replenished. While it didn't really seem to line up very well except off the jetties, there was none of that super shallow shorebreak I would expect to see after these projects.

 

Hopefully they don't remove the jetties but that is what the did at Harvey Cedars and a good break in between a couple of jetties turned into only shorebreak after the jetties were removed. If they are looking to lengthen some of these beaches the jetties will have to be removed.

 

Any idea why they removed the jetties in Harvey Cedars? Every beachfill i've seen in a community with groins or jetties, they just widen the beach, bury the jetties in the new sand and forget about them until they start poking through after some erosion. I was up there for the Anything But 3 event a few years ago, and that was a fun wave.

 

Yea the anything but 3 is how I remember it, it was a fun wave and a great event...to be honest I am not sure if they just covered it I just know its gone. The beach is a lot longer so I guess they could have covered it. I'm telling you, you wouldn't even recognize the beach.

 

i lifeguard in LBI and last year they stationed all of their EMT certified and most experienced veterans on the beaches that were replenished. by pumping sand out into the water they not only destroy our surf breaks, but also make swimming extremely hazardous, especially for the typical tourist beach goers in the summer.

the amount of neck and back injuries sustained because of the replenishment is unbelievable. when i tell people the number they don't believe me. last year they had to close one of the beaches because there were 3 serious neck/back injuries by the end of the morning at that one spot. i just don't understand why these lawmakers can't wrap their head around the fact that beach replenishment is a huge waste of money, and does far more harm than good. some of the areas in lbi that suffered the most damage were the ones with extended beaches, and the sand fallout on the streets was ridiculous.