Folly beach is definitely getting renourished starting in January. This is the first renourishment that I'll experience. I have mixed feelings on it. A lot of you NE'rs have me worried that it's over for Folly this year. On the other hand, the washout breaks on the rocks for about 3 hours or so. If you leave at high tide you're walking through thigh deep water. Remain calm or brace for impact? Post and Courier Charleston, SC 12/6/13 Work to renourish Folly Beach to start next month FOLLY BEACH, S.C. — Work is set to begin next month on renourishing the beach at Folly Beach. The work is expected to be completed by June, The Post and Courier of Charleston (http://bit.ly/1cXSLgL) reported. Equipment is to be put in place by the end of this month and the pumping of sand onto the beach would begin in January. Plans for the project are proceeding even though Folly Beach does not yet have $2.5 million in easements that the Army Corps of Engineers says is required for the work. Mayor Tim Goodwin says the town's attorney is in discussion with the corps about the requirement. The corps is requiring easements for at least 35 locations and from at least eight property owners where the public beach has eroded onto private property. Such easements would essentially turn some private property into public beach. "Our number one mission is to provide protection for the infrastructure and structures on the beach, and that's what we're going to do," said Lisa Metheney, Army Corps assistant chief for project management in the Charleston district. The federal government in 1993 committed to renourish Folly Beach until 2043 as needed, or about every eight years, to settle charges that the erosion was made worse by the Charleston jetties disrupting the flow of sand along the shore. Two full renourishments have taken place. Within a year or two of each, erosion ate out the renourished sand, requiring some spot renourishment projects.
If two full nourishment projects have taken place, and the sand source is the same this time as the past, it probably wont change things much in the long term. In the short term, be prepared for several months (depending on storm activity) of your spots not breaking on smaller swells (or at all). I'm sure long term locals that surfed it prior to, and after, 1993 when the sand pumping started will be able to tell you what to expect. The bad news is completion in June. My experience has been that spring projects will often ruin the conditions for the entire summer, since there will be no several storms to rework the pumped sand, and pull it off the beach into sandbars.
Nah man, that just means instead of Folly being chest high, when surrounding islands are ankle, Folly will now be head high. Magic!
It will be top to bottom shorepound for about 2 months before some storms sort out some bars and everything is back to normal......the beach will be a lot bigger for about 5 years and eventually it will get back to what it is now. This is what has happened the last 2 times
The sand what is it going to do? Will it create an underwater shelf, ledge, drop off wall, next to a way to shallow. And will the new sand arrive with dead or wounded sea creatures. The waves tonight where most awesome.
They"re starting near the lighthouse and going towards Morris Island first then working their way the beach to the Washout and further south.
Don't worry brahZ the folly is always pumping sometimes it pumps so hard it looks like the wave is a muscle.
