Beach Erosion--Can it be fixed?

AJC is referred to "the fishwrapper" around Atlanta.....nickname fits in most cases

Peace.....everybody is entitled to their opinion and likes and dislikes...that is one thing that makes this country/life great......

"... a form of societal madness"

Here is that section of the article. I think the quotes are interesting and did not find them offensive in any way. It's kind of hard to argue with what he is saying, considering what has happened in the past year.

In recent years, property owners and the billion-dollar-plus tourist industry have tried to get an upper hand by dredging sand from the ocean floor and pumping it onshore. The process is commonly called "beach renourishment," but critics say its is little more than an expensive, and ultimately futile, dredge-and-fill operation.

"It's arrogant of us to think we'll solve the problem, especially in Florida, which has a long record of hurricane damage," said Orrin Pilkey Jr., professor emeritus in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and a leading expert on shoreline erosion. "It's an irrational thing, but it's a political thing. Many of the people who own beach property are very wealthy and very politically connected."

Pilkey advocates building far back from the shoreline; an idea he admits has very few adherents in beach communities, where the value waterfront property has skyrocketed in recent years.

"It's a form of societal madness," Pilkey said. "We're dealing with dynamic barrier islands and shorelines. It's not very smart to think we can stop the erosion ? to hold the shoreline in place."

oooo, I like that phrase !

I've got to think of a way to use that at the next cocktail party I go to.

I'm hearing (secondhand) that the county will be scooping sand out of the gulf with backhoes to shore up houses that can be saved - and maybe along the whole dune line. Not waiting for any dredge and fill permits.

I fear this will be another huge waste of time and money if Sea Oats are not immediately planted. They were prepared to plant 900,000 this year in a process that started after Ivan so we may be ahead of the game by being so far behind. But we need millions of Sea Oats planted.

If anything at all is going to be done, my vote would be to build an 8-foot berm at the dune line and plant it right away.

Whatever is done could all be for naught if we get another storm.

If anything at all is going to be done, my vote would be to build an 8-foot berm at the dune line and plant it right away.

Whatever is done could all be for naught if we get another storm.

I wonder if he has ever been to a beach? Isn't Duke a good 3-4 hours from the Beach? I wonder what his field of expertise is? Is the AJC just looking to raise a brow? Maybe interviewing him is like Jay Leno asking basic Current Events questions to the public so that we can get a kick out of listening to the answers. That is why I don't read the AJC, and never will. Give me the days when the Walton Sun had only local stuff. I hate reading into a story, then look to see that it is about Chicago or somewhere. The Walton Sun is still better than the other mind controlling garbage like the AJC.

From what I've seen, the final product in SoWal leaves a lot to be desired, but I am a layman for sure. I knew one engineer awhile back that engineered everything properly, and every time the builder and owner hopped up and down screaming about the expense and how it was overkill, and in the end almost everyone goes with the cheapest possible option. Which has been cheap indeed. I'm sure many owners have been told that their improperly engineered and built house will stand forever, against any type of weather.

We also have a lot of older structures made of sticks that were built while no one was looking.

Ed Walline built a lot of the old concrete bunker houses which have held up very well, except for the ones now falling onto the beach from 40-foot bluffs.

If you're too close to the water, nothing, not even mountains, will be spared from the relentless, ruthless, wonderful forces of nature. I'm with the Blue Devil on that one.

Well, I agree about the forces of nature: if the coast decides to move, it can't be stopped, only delayed.

I'm sorry to hear that some folks have gotten duped or taken down the cheap route... everyone deserves better.

On a related note: when were the houses along Eastern Lake built? Were they well built in your opinion? ...and Kurt, how did you get access to the beach in front of Eastern Lake Road to get the photos you took yesterday? I'm glad to see that some folks were able to get out and enjoy the sun and sand.

There are a lot of houses on Eastern Lake, which ones are you speaking of?

I was thinking specifically of the houses between SeaTurtle's house with the dangling porch (ouch, I feel awful for him and his family!) and the outlet of Eastern Lake: you posted photos of this stretch of beachfront yesterday (west of the outlet...)

My solution is to have the guvment purchase all the property south of 30-a and cart off every stick and stone, restoring the area to it's untouched state, except for grass and sand parking lots, boardwalks, restrooms, and a few camping sites. Dogs would not be banned, but some people would be.

But that would cost billions. HEY - how many freaking bombs do we need anyway.

If someone gets $2 mil instead of $4mil for their property, well there will be plenty of hourly work for those poor folks from the process to make up the shortfall.

Kurt,

I'm curious. Always wondered during visits there why the extraordinary investment in home construction without corresponding bucks into foundation protection. You talking about substantially reinforced concrete berms or something else? (Yea, I'm a gear-head, though not that field. Dad was a civil and "fun" summer projects sometimes involved building low - 5-6' - concrete dams across creeks on our land to mitigate erosion, so I'm at least noddingly familiar with bucking mother nature techniques ;-)



I was wondering the same thing today (kinda). I'm also clueless as to the effects of all the various ways to rebuild and retain the dunes but I was thinking why don't they put huge boulders along the dune line and backfill and plant. Kinda like they did at the elbow on Cape San Blas. The boulders might look more "natural " than concrete . I guess the boulders could always be removed after the dunes are strong again. If they can stop Venice, Italy from falling into the sea, I would think something could be done for our beaches. I pray they bring in the best experts in the world and listen to them even if we have to cough it up as owners with an assessment.

I'm hearing (secondhand) that the county will be scooping sand out of the gulf with backhoes to shore up houses that can be saved - and maybe along the whole dune line. Not waiting for any dredge and fill permits.

I can understand their line of thinking on this. The homes must be saved. But to use this method to rebuild the entire dune line is a mistake. Backhoes would take huge amounts of bottom sand from a single compact area, leaving gaping holes in the gulf floor. Not to mention they can only reach far enough out to collect sand from just beyond the break line. Dredging collects and deposits sand evenly.

The first sand bar that grew immensely after Arlene is where the sand needs to come from.

As painful as it may be for some, IMO, dredging is the only option. Not only do the dunes need to be re-built, but the beaches need to be widened - especially in places like Blue Mountain and Miramar.

I think it's going to be a different ballgame this time around. There will be more of a sense of urgency, and thus the effort to repair dunes/beaches will be more aggressive (and perhaps more radical). Of course, this is just speculation on my part, but I think I'm probably correct.

People's homes have to be protected. If the foundations of homes are hanging off sand cliffs, it will have too be fixed very quickly.