Artificial Surfing Reef proposed in Florida

doug bixby's / M.B. LIVE SURF REPORT / 1 min VIDEO.

where at in volusia co. Thats my home toown.
thanks doug b.

 

dont know where exactly they are talking about building the reef.

 

This could be a good thing for surfing, but to have a positive outcome for the cost benefit aspect the reef would have to be huge(not all that the wide but longer)to save the beaches from erosion and such. If they have the money to create such a large reef, then they should go ahead and do it...it will pay off in the long run

 

I don't know the research on the subject, but my guess is that on offshore reef would be much more beneficial to beach preservation (minimization of coastal erosion), then any jetty or beach replenishment plan.

 

Yeah unfortunatley there are two big drawbacks for surfing reefs as a cost effective erosion control structure as opposed to beach replenishment for east coast barrier beach settings -

1) They generally only protect a small strip of beach from erosion in an area with miles of eroding beaches so pumping still needed elsewhere.

2) Reef dont create more sand, they alter sand movement patterns. So the sand that would build up behind the reef-protected section means less sand for the downdrift beach (like a jetty basically) so pumping still needed.

 

makes sense Mitchell.

Perhaps the cost isn't that much? Where it is worth it to create a small area that is more protected from erosion, and producing recreational value on the small stretch of beach and as a surfing break.

 

I think its funny that Pepole in Volusia county are just now getting on the reef band wagon. LOL As a Cocoa Beach resident yall had better get in line. We have been pushing for the reef for years, we have received money from the state which was matched by the locals to do research and decide on a spot here in cocoa beach which has now been determined. Now we need the funding to build the reef and with the way the economy is and the financial markets don't hold your breath when it comes recieving a single dollar from the state. There will be a reef in Cocoa Beach before Volusia county I hate to tell yall that but we have been pusing for this for YEARS and we are just now on the verge of maybe getting it. With its 2-3 million dollar price tag don't look for the state to give yall any money for research or development. We had to match every penny that the govermnet and state was willing to give in order just to continue with the rersearch here in Cocoa Beach, and that was before the whole economic meltdown. Now they won't match a thing. No worry's, when the reef is done here in Cocoa beach y'all can come check it out. Also here the link to the reef project...http://www.spacecoastreef.com/index_files/Space_Coast_Reef_Update_11-21-08.pdf

 

Unfortunately for those of us who think beach nourishment is wrecking a lot of surfing opportunities (as an aside - I can't believe this isn't issue #1 for every east coast chapter of the surfrider Foundation), sand pumping is relatively cheap complared to rock, engineering, and construction of a reef. I think building the reef out of sand filled geotextile tubes would be the least costly option and could easily be removed if things dont work out, as with Prattes in SoCAL.

As far as location goes, i think locations like the north side of IRI (where the bridge was threatened but vacant land to the north where erosion is no big deal) or Cape Hatteras Lighthouse where you've got a need to control erosion at a specific location, but not elsewhere. Also, both locations are already recreation areas with parking access, and swimmers arent an issue. Of course those erosion problems are already being addressed in other ways.

 

I'm totally uneducated on the subject but how deep would they place the reef? After that, how high would it need to be built from the ground to effectively be considered a reef?

Hypothetically, if the water was 20 feet deep and I could sink a 100 yard barrier that was 10 feet high would that be a reef that would be able to create good waves?

 

that would undoubtedly incluence the surf. Anytime you influence the ocean depths in the surf zone, you are going to alter the waves.

I have no clue about the specifics of the the proposed reef.

 

I would say anything placed on the bottom to provide habitat or create a surf break would be considered a reef, regardless of how deep the water is or how high the reef is. We have artificial fishing reefs off Maryland and Delaware in 40 feet of water that stick up maybe 5-10 feet for fishing habitat.

your hypothetical reef would (10 feet under ignoring tides) and would generally cause any swell over 6 feet to break and would have not much effect on say a 3 foot swell. So wouldnt be ridabale often...a shallower artifical reef say 5 feet deep would cause the 3 foot swell to break, but would probably be a dry-reef shutdown on the 6 foot swell. For that reason most artificial reefs are designed to taper in depth so swells of different sizes can break on different parts of the reef.

MIcah, i think the coolest concept for the east coast are reefs like the one in Cornwall England (also swell starved) where the reef is designed to increase wave height by focussing the swell through concave refraction, and a rock break is placed adjacent to the reef to shelter the reef from prevailing winds...like in Delaware the wind break jetty would be up the beach to the NW of the reef a few hundred feet...!

 

in the aspect of beach replenishment...new jersey has been abused for years by the nonstop pumping of sand and the jetties that had been put in many years ago but in long branch they have found a different wat to replenish the beaches while saving and even helping many local surf breaks...the sand was all pumped onto one beach and as the sand was carried north with the current it would creat natural sand bars off the tips of the jetties while adding sand to the shore...there is all a proposed man made sand bar break for a popular local spot where the sand was pumped onto.

Also about 4 years ago the idea of a manmade reef was looked into for a 7 presidents(a local park system located on the ocean) however this was mearly for the use of recreation and not replenishment but the topic has not been talked about recently after the price tag for the project was unrealistic for their budget

 

Have they actually done this and it DID improve the local surf breaks? I heard about this proposal, and was skeptical that it would actually improve things.