New Beginnings?? Im trying to be optimistic...

its a part of life on the central NJ coast. nor easters will fix us up..

 

What a complete waste of money... But I'm wondering, what is the best alternative to something like this?

Artificial Reef's seem pretty cool, but that doesn't seem like it is going to catch on anytime soon. Reef for fishies, surfers, and scuba divers? Win, win, win.

What about building more massive jetties like the one at Newport Beach? Would that do anything to protect the coast? How about massive sea walls? There just has to be a better alternative to pumping sand on the beach that will get washed back into the ocean next big storm. It just seems like a vicious cycle that will cost us legitimately BILLIONS of dollars. They just dredged my beaches probably three years ago maybe four, and they're already loading up to do it again. Why not just have hoses constantly spraying new sand on the beach at all times?

In the end, it is our own fault for building on barrier islands, but at this point, what would be a better alternative to dredging? Should we just let nature run its course? Let the sea take our beach communities down dave jones locker?

 

i used to surf a jetty in ventura, ca that was never crowed and always fantastic. a left barrel off the jetty. about 10 years ago the army corps of engineers remade the jetty and it was never that same after that. it is possible that the spot has returned back to normal but i havn't checked it in 8 years.

people want to protect their beach houses at all cost.

 

couple years ago, "THEY" took out a storm drain on the north end of vb and it fugged our break up. nice big beach that goes out as far as where the outside break use ta was. it hasn't come back yet

 

I own the world's largest sand supply company so I'd appreciate it if you kept your ideas to yourself.

 

You ask lots of questions. Massive jettys and massive seawalls are proven to be not only very expensive with lots of maintenance costs on top of installation, but only a temporary fix. Any unarmored stretch of beach on the downward drift will be robbed of the natural flow of sand and have the same erosion problems exponentially increased. Constant pumping will be very expensive and will cause water quality degradation.

A better alternative is dune restoration, which gives the sand dunes the vegetation to hold the sand in place. The big question is should we let nature take its course? In light of sea level rise, and increasing storm surges, strategic retreat seems to be the only alternative. If the money and technology exists to raise the elevation and re nourish the dunes in certain beach communities, the free market will allow it. If not, then they have to start moving back, slowly but surely, as the inevitable progress of the sea continues. Mother nature bats last.

If I was Mad Atom, I would feel differently since my sand pumping and dredging business/racket would suffer.

 

Damned A-Rabs!!! I kid, I kid...

 

If you're serious, I've got a 300+ acre sand mine for sale. Located in SC.

 

Sorry, I am filled with questions just because this whole process just seems absurd. There HAS to be a better solution. I was just joking on the constant pumping of the sand. I was imagining like large water fountains constantly spewing sand onto beach patrons.

But when you're talking about the dune replenishment, why aren't they doing that now? I get that the dunes need the vegetation for the stability and strength of the dunes, so why aren't we doing it? I can't remember exactly, but I feel like some beach communities were putting old cars into the dunes to add some volume? Why don't they continue to build the dunes up instead of out?

 

Some places are. One of my main spots that got hit pretty hard during Sandy has dune replenishment going on right now...and aside from the usual fences around the dunes to keep ppl off they have all these fences(little rickity wood picket deals) coming off the dune perpendicular(w/ slight angle)...as far as the cars for volume, not sure, but I have read where they use old Christmas trees to ass bulk...

 

a true dune ecosystem like as seen in island beach state park or Avalon NJ would decrease tax revenue as the whole beach block would have to be trees and dunes, this would save all the slightly inland houses on the next block in and maybe drive tax revenue up on those homes as the houses would be worth more since they wouldn't be taking a giant reaming every storm.

go to google maps and type in avalon nj (32-58th street)to see what 'real dunes' should look like.....some woods by the beach....

there is a book called the NJ shore by Cunningham, its out of print, but it says wildwood NJ used to be a dense forest filled with giant trees 100 feet high.....and now....uuggghhhhh

 

Dune replenishment is not as sexy as a dredge and fill project, and the decision makers ( municipal, state, and federal) have vested interests (Cayman Island bank accounts) in continuing these publicly funded boondoggles.

 

Dude I love the looks of a proper dune setup, complete w/ the scrubby pines mixed in behind the dunes...

 

also great place for DL bat hits instead of the 'towel over the head' that is such a dead giveaway.....

 

YES! Perfect scenery for it too

 

Beach erosion is 100% natural. How NJ deals with it is unnatural.
The cheap and logical solution is to buy out damaged properties, clean up the mess, and never rebuild beyond that damage line. People who own ocean front property should be well aware they can loose their property and receive a determined gov. pay out when and if it happens.
In NJ we are spending billions on these silly push around the sand/fight the ocean projects to coddle an extremely tiny fraction of NJ/NY citizens. I would say about 95% of these homes are vacant 9 months out of the year. I can't be too far off on that. This is mind blowing to me, but what gov moves aren't mind blowing these days.

 

Yeah i think I was thinking of christmas tree's... Regardless. Dredging sucks. Wah!

 

I agree 100% man, and I honestly get nervous for you Jersey guys when these threads pop up...maybe they should cancel the replenishment and w/ the money saved fix the damn buoys that are down.


***meant to say 'add bulk' in previous post, not 'ass bulk'...