Beach Replenishment - Alternatives?

[buckethead]

There are several letters stating that sand is the worst option. finchaser and dark have said it and I agree. Seawalls have been discussed but dismissed as too costly. Folks should realize that by the time this project is done 32 years from now the cost per mile for sand replenishment will be estimated at $100 million per mile. Yes folks I read that number yesterday. Although it is an estimate, can we afford to spend $100 million dollars per mile when there are better alternatives?

Shark River sent a letter discussing lengthening the jetties and making T's at the end. I think that would be much more reasonable and it does make sense. When you think of some of the Pacific tropical islands that are in storm paths they do not suffer as extreme damage because some of them have atolls, or the reefs ringing them. If they made all the jetties into tjetties that could work. It would definitely cost less than $100 million per mile, and less than running a seawall all along the NJ Coast which a lot of property owners seem to be against. There are several viable alternatives out there folks, and many of them are better and less costly than the sand replenishment.

This is part of the shark river letter:

"We feel that a better, more effective, and longer lasting option would be to extend the jetties, adding "T's", aka breakwaters, at their ends to absorb the impact of the waves and to trap the sand. We also believe that there must be a robust, stabilized dune system to protect the homes. This is science that has been proven to work unlike the current method that quickly washes away and also acts as a “ramp” to help send storm surge into homes and businesses.

It has been proven in places like Long Beach Island and Long Beach NY that a proper system of dunes offers the best shore protection from catastrophic damage. Quoting from a NY Times article By Mireya Navarro and Rachel Newer on December 3, 2012, “The smaller neighboring communities on the barrier island [of Long Beach] — Point Lookout, Lido Beach and Atlantic Beach — approved construction of 15-foot-high dunes as storm insurance. Those dunes did their job, sparing them catastrophic damage while [the neighboring town of] Long Beach suffered at least $200 million in property and infrastructure losses, according to preliminary estimates.”

Longer jetties would dramatically curtail the northern movement of the sand and the T's would help trap it there. The T’s would also help protect the new beach and dunes by deflecting the power of the incoming waves. The T’s are another word for “breakwaters”, in effect long heaps of rocks placed parallel to the shore to intercept waves. Over 6,000 have been built in Japan with great success.

The current science claims that the north sides of the jetties will lose sand more than the south side. A simple observation shows that this is true, but the overwhelming anecdotal evidence, and simple common sense, shows that far less sand washes away with the jetties there then it does when there is nothing in place to stop it.
Robert Dalrymple, a civil engineer at the University of Delaware Sea Grant program says groins [jetties] may have a place: "Robbing of sand [movement of sand from the north side of one jetty to the south side of the next] will not happen when you fill the groin fields with sand before you use them. You don't make sand [bluffs broken down by waves to form beaches] with these devices, but they can protect sand pumped in from elsewhere.” By extending the jetties more sand will be held in place on both the north and south sides."

[DarkSkies]

When we look at it in the abstract, it may seem unavoidable to some folks out there.
There is so much negativity, and folks seem resigned to let the Federal Gov't walk all over us. :don't know why:

Some of you know that is not true, and that they have lied to make these projects seem feasible or effective when they are not.
I'm asking you folks to post all the ACOE references to the project, official papers, PDFs, and facts and figures here...so when we get a chance to sit down at a meeting or start a lawsuit, we might start to see some common themes here......
Thanks...:HappyWave:

[ledhead36]

You got me there dark. So sick of my tax dollars being wasted. How about some of this moolah for the back bay people. No chance.
The original acoe plan and the deal to allenhurst one
http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Portals/37/docs/civilworks/projects/nj/coast/SHtoBI/EtoLA/Feb2014_Engineering_Appendix.pdf

http://www.deallake.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Main_Rpt_21_Feb_2014-1.pdf

[hookset]

Does anyone follow Paul Mulshine in the Star Ledger. I would vote for this guy. He tells it like it is. Good articles by Mulshine and Andrew Mills


www.starledger.com (http://www.starledger.com)
Hurricane Sandy: When it comes to sand dunes, the feds fall flat
By Paul Mulshine/The Star Ledger
February 24, 2014

He (Gov. Christie) also repeated a suggestion that the feds have been ignoring for all that time: The Shore needs a network of sand dunes reaching from Sandy Hook to Cape May. That’s just common sense when you consider the difference dunes made in protecting towns from the storm surge.

The textbook example was Bradley Beach, where in 1996 the borough began a decidedly low-tech and low-cost effort to protect against the storms that batter the beaches every few years. Public works supervisor Richard Bianchi Jr. employed snow fences and discarded Christmas trees to build a dune network that kept the town dry while its neighbors were being inundated.

After Sandy, Bianchi started building the dunes up again. But then the Army Corps of Engineers got into the act. When I drove by to check it out yesterday, the new dune network was gone. The beach was as flat as a pancake. The same is true in Manasquan, where the Corps just finished up a replenishment project.

Bianchi told me that, like the governor, he wonders why the Corps didn’t includes dune construction in the project for all of the towns in Monmouth County.

"Some mayors want dunes and some don’t want them," said Bianchi. "I don’t know why the federal government is putting sand on the beach without making them do it."

Neither do I. If Sandy proved anything, it proved that the ocean is capable of rolling up any flat beach at the Shore until it stops at a solid object. If another Sandy-like storm were to hit tomorrow, many of these towns would again be flooded despite the tens of millions of dollars worth of sand just deposited on them.


Discarded Christmas trees used to form the foundation of sand dunes as Bradley Beach; Chris Christie was right to call for similar dunes on every beach.
Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

Yesterday in Keansburg, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from Long Branch, held a news conference with some Corps officials to discuss the start of a sand-pumping project in that town fronting on the Raritan Bay. Ironically, that project will include a dune network even though the bay waters are nowhere near as nasty as the ocean.
''He's gotta do an order that says that before you get any FEMA money you've got to put them in.'' - Richard Bianchi on Chris Christie and dunes
I asked Commander Paul Owen of the New York District of the Corps why the ocean beaches won’t be getting dunes as well. Owen noted that his district, which is responsible for Monmouth County, does not require dunes while the Philadelphia district, which covers everything south of the Ocean County line, does require dunes.

"Currently the project design does not require dunes. It calls for a berm," Owen said. "The berm provides a level of protection that was economically justified in those areas."

"Berm" is the term for a broad, flat beach. I don’t know what economist decided that was all that was needed. But the math should have changed after Sandy. The cost of that berm in Monmouth County will exceed $100 million. Meanwhile Bianchi estimates his borough spent about $10,000 on its dunes.

Once the Corps leaves, the locals are perfectly capable of fashioning that new sand into the sort of dune system Bianchi build in Bradley Beach. If the feds aren’t going to act, the governor should order other towns to follow his town’s example and build new dunes, Bianchi said.

"The governor could make them," he said. "He’s gotta do an order that says that before you get any FEMA money you’ve got to put them in."

That makes sense to me, and the sooner the better. The worst storm to hit Jersey prior to Sandy was that nor’easter that ripped Long Beach Island in half. That hit 52 years ago next week.

Sooner or later, a similar storm will hit again. They say an ounce of prevention’s worth pound of cure. But when you compare the Bradley Beach plan to the federal government plan, it turns out that ounce of prevention is worth a couple tons of cure.

[surfstix1963]

Total waste of $$ sand never stays where it was put it gets blown by the wind moved with the water build a bigger jetty to protect the beach sand won't do it for very long.

[surferman]

"Berm" is the term for a broad, flat beach. I don’t know what economist decided that was all that was needed. But the math should have changed after Sandy. The cost of that berm in Monmouth County will exceed $100 million. Meanwhile Bianchi estimates his borough spent about $10,000 on its dunes.

"The governor could make them," he said. "He’s gotta do an order that says that before you get any FEMA money you’ve got to put them in."

That makes sense to me, and the sooner the better. The worst storm to hit Jersey prior to Sandy was that nor’easter that ripped Long Beach Island in half. That hit 52 years ago next week.

Sooner or later, a similar storm will hit again. They say an ounce of prevention’s worth pound of cure. But when you compare the Bradley Beach plan to the federal government plan, it turns out that ounce of prevention is worth a couple tons of cure.

Wow bradley did their beach for $10.000 and the area in monmouth county costed $100 million? Big difference. Reminds me of the defense spending and the $450 hammers congress authorized. Smells very fishy to me.

[seamonkey]

Either some dudes are connected to the contracts or your congressmen are getting kickbacks up there. Simple fact of life there is no way 10 thousand is even close to 10 million. If one town can do it for that little where does all the rest of the $9.90 million go? Can you spell c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n

[voyager35]

I hope I don't offend any folks here. What you are thinking of as your money is not really true. The federal government takes from us with taxes licencing fees et al. Once they do that they spend and spend. Trying to get the federal government to change its mind about spending is like trying to take away a set of credit cards from a wife who is a compulsive spender. They feel entitled to spend that money. Trying to get them to change focus will be a big if not impossible undertaking. There are too many folks who have been hustled and scared into believing that beach replenishment is the way to go. Just my .02. Good luck

[buckethead]

This worked for south seaside park.


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...-jersey-sandy/ (http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13958051418908&key=11ef16df50a333f1a361ad2cf05e3fdc&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebassbarn.com%2Fforum%2F8-surf-fishing-forum%2F421729-interesting-video-beach-replenisment-2.html&v=1&libId=3bc4b33c-e321-47b1-83fc-81a428dbaaf3&out=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.nationalgeographic.com%2Fnew s%2F2013%2F09%2F130901-coastal-sand-dunes-midway-beach-jersey-sandy%2F&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebassbarn.com%2Fforum%2F8-surf-fishing-forum%2F&title=Interesting%20video%20on%20beach%20replenism ent%20-%20Page%202&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.nationalgeographic.com%2Fn.. .-jersey-sandy%2F)

Jen A. Miller, in South Seaside Park, New Jersey
for National Geographic (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/)
September 1, 2013

(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/125/)A dune in the right place at the right time is a very powerful thing. More than just hills of sand, dunes can be a beach town's first line of defense against storms and erosion. That's why some coastal communities are encouraging their growth.

When Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore in October 2012, the ocean surged onto land on the strength of winds blowing at up to 89 miles (143 kilometers) per hour. Some towns had no barriers between the ocean and their homes, businesses, and boardwalks. But those that did—those that had dunes—well, just look at Midway Beach.

(Related article: "After Sandy: The Future of Boardwalks (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121110-superstorm-sandy-boardwalks-new-jersey-shore-science-nation/).")
At first glance, it doesn't seem like the kind of town that could have survived such a powerful storm. It's a quarter-mile-long community within South Seaside Park, New Jersey, made up almost entirely of post-World War II, one-story bungalows. To its north, Sandy knocked a roller coaster into the ocean. To its south, ocean water crossed over the barrier island and into Barnegat Bay.

But only one home in Midway Beach saw any water damage.
One big reason for that—or, rather, one tall reason: Midway is protected by 25-foot-high (7.6-meter-high) dunes that the community started passively building 30 years ago.
The project started as a way to prevent an annual annoyance, explains Dominick Solazzo, a trustee on the Midway Beach Condominium Association (http://www.midwaybeachcondo.com/midwaybeach/)'s board of directors.
Without fencing, the sand would blow into their community, so why not try to keep it on the beach?
"The thought was: 'Let's put in storm fences so we don't have to backhoe the sand every spring," says Solazzo. A union electrician, he has a B.S. in natural resource management from Rutgers University and lives in Midway year-round.
That first fence was installed in the 1980s, and the dunes grew from there. For the last five years, Solazzo has led a resident-driven, volunteer effort to more actively manage the dune growth, a project that Stewart Farrell, director of the Richard Stockton Coastal Research Center, calls "the most dynamic 'bootstrap' dune project on the coast."
Before Superstorm Sandy, the dunes were 25 feet (7.6 meters) high and 120 to 150 feet (36 to 45 meters) wide. Sandy snatched about 50 feet (15 meters) of sand from that width, so in November, right after the storm, the Midway Beach Condominium Association spent $7,000 on plants and fencing to start replacing the sand without using bulldozers.

Here's what they did.

1. Use plants as anchors.


http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/photos/000/711/cache/71109_990x742-cb1377996613.jpg American beach grass gets most of its nutrients from the air, so it doesn't need soil to thrive. Its wide, shallow roots form supportive layers in the sand as the dunes develop.

Illustrations by Vincent Diga, III

Plants help keep the sand in place. Solazzo estimates that Midway's dunes host some 60,000 beach plants, mostly American beach grass (http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=AMBR), which provides several benefits. Its roots are shallow and they spread wide, so the grass doesn't need to cover the dune entirely to be effective. And as the sand piles high, it grows upward but leaves its roots behind, creating layers in the sand.
It also doesn't ask for much.
"American beach grass sucks most of its nutrients-nitrogen especially-out of the atmosphere, so it doesn't need soil to get started," says Farrell. As the grass ages and starts to create leaf litter, other plants can grow in that organic material-plants like bayberry and seaside goldenrod-though that process can take 15 to 20 years.
Last winter, Midway also accepted donations of cast-off Christmas trees (http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-12/news/36281952_1_christmas-trees-sand-dunes-beach-fence) to intersperse with the fencing and act as additional anchors for the sand.
"The fencing, the roots, the Christmas trees-what rebar is to concrete, that is to this dune," Solazzo says. "They allow this to act as a system instead of a giant pile of sand that will blow away."


2. Install a fence, and let the wind do the heavy lifting.
But not just any fence.
The first kind used at Midway, Solazzo says, was chain-link fence, which didn't quite work. Too much sand blew through the gaps.
Instead, Midway used four-foot-high, wood-slatted fencing to limit the velocity of the wind. It isn't sand-proof, either, so they installed two layers in a repeating sawtooth pattern.


http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/photos/000/711/cache/71110_990x742-cb1377996693.jpg Wooden fencing layered in a sawtooth pattern catches wind-blown sand. Another fence deters people from stepping on the dunes and damaging the plants.

The angles of the fence aren't parallel to the shoreline, but instead are perpendicular to the direction of the winds. One side captures sand from the northeast-the way the winds typically blow in fall and winter-and the other intersects the less powerful but still frequent southeast winds.
The pattern is repeated up the dune, so swirling sand has several chances to be caught by slats of wood before reaching the homes on the other side.
Right now, there's an additional fence parallel to the shoreline, but that's more to keep nosy tourists out of the dunes, where they might step on and damage plant roots, says Solazzo. It'll be taken down at the end of the summer season.
(Related: See aerial photos of desert sand dunes (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/sand-dunes/steinmetz-photography).)
There's no need for bulldozers or shovels when the wind does the work of building the dune, and Farrell says that's better for the beach grass too. Adding compacted sand to the dunes would hamper its growth. "The center of the plant is a spiral, and it unfurls like a flag upward," he says. "If you bury it with windblown sand, the plant simply keeps growing up through the dry sand, and it leaves behind a string going all the way back down to where it started."


3. Repeat.
Solazzo expects that 90 percent of the fencing will be buried in sand by next spring, making up for a lot of what Sandy took away. "We'll plant more plants then," he says.
As Solazzo and I talked by the dune, a woman in a purple strapless bikini top and white shorts walked past, headed home after a day at the beach. She told me that her parents lived in one of the Midway bungalows, and that the dunes had saved her family's home.
"Thank God," she said, waving her hand at those piles of sand.

[DarkSkies]

Thank you for the contributions and your perspectives. There are several feasible alternatives as mentioned. Someone also mentioned a lawsuit. This would be formidable and costly. The key is if fishermen were willing to support it and pay the costs. When it comes to surf fishermen, sadly, I would have to say no.
The groups that could fund a suit like this are hated by fishermen, but what is the alternative?
Some may not like to read this, but based on our numbers, there has been dismal support from the fishing community. I kind of expected that, but always try to keep a positive outlook. It was the same thing for Drag Island where we had to plead with folks to sign a simple petition.

Someone asked me about a lawsuit.
My comments are below.
I have talked to an attorney who is a fisherman - more on that when I get a chance......
"This is sharp thinking, good point. A lawsuit could be pushed, but it will cost a trememdous amount of $$. I was going to start a thread asking fishermen who would be willing to donate some $$ to the cause, but I know the result already....the same few will contribute, and the majority will stand on the sidelines.
I'm not through exploring the lawsuit option yet, talked to an attorney who is a fisherman, yesterday.
Although it looks daunting, I'll keep you folks posted on the developments."


Thanks for the input here, people. Feel free to add whatever else you think will help us in the long run. :HappyWave:

[strikezone31]

I don't understand why the ACOE isn't more flexible. The jetties in Rockaway and east are being fortified. The beaches can't be much different from here to where you folks are. Why can't they fortify your jetties as well? I think the ACOE is doing the work here as well. Rocks vs sand it doesn't take a fifth grader to see rocks are better in the long run.

[jigfreak]

Maybe someone could contact these people. What they are doing to all the jetties is killing all the marine life these folks are talking about. May be some sort of legal angle there.


Protecting Offshore Habitats while Rebuilding New Jersey Beaches

Long Beach, NJ. Photo credit: NOAA FisheriesBy Karen Greene, Sandy Hook Habitat Conservation Division Field OfficeThe State of New Jersey has 130 miles of sandy beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. These beaches are constantly eroding, as waves and wind move the sand around. To protect local communities from storm and flood damage and to provide recreational opportunities for visitors to the Jersey shore, the Federal, State and local governments must regularly replenish the supply of sand.

For decades, the US Army Corps of Engineers has been dredging sand from "borrow areas” in the Atlantic Ocean and placing it on beaches. Local communities also shore up beaches by trucking in sand or dredging sand from back bays.

NOAA Fisheries’ Habitat Conservation Division has a role in these projects. We provide advice on the best ways to rebuild depleted coastal beaches while conserving important living marine resources. We recommend ways to minimize impacts to important offshore habitats that might be impacted by sand mining to restore these coastal areas.

We’ve been working with the Corps and the State of New Jersey on beach re-nourishment and shore protection since the 1980s. We’ve consulted on various projects in northern Monmouth County, on Long Beach Island and in Ocean City. Since Superstorm Sandy, we’ve been providing suggestions for ecologically responsible ways to replenish decimated beaches and bayshores along the entire New Jersey coast, Delaware Bay and Raritan, and Sandy Hook Bay.With demand high, the Corps and the state have stepped up efforts to find more sources of suitable sand offshore in State waters and on the Outer Continental Shelf. Offshore shoals and ridges provide good sources of sand. They also happen to be valuable habitat for fish and other species. Shoals are dynamic features that attract a diversity of marine life. They produce a variety of bottom types and foraging opportunities for finfish, like summer flounder, bluefish, bonito and false albacore and bottom dwelling organisms. Finfish tend to congregate around shoals and ridges. They also provide guiding features for coastal migratory species such as whales, dolphins, sea turtles and tuna. Many of these areas are also important habitat for surf clams. However, sand mining can alter the bathymetric contours (depths and gradients) of shoals and ridges.

Our staff works with the Corps to help identify and evaluate options for reducing impacts to these ecologically rich habitats. Some options may include simply maintaining the vertical relief (elevation) of shoals and ridges, avoiding areas of high quality surf clam habitat and conducting ongoing monitoring to assess changes to ocean bottom conditions due to the dredging activity. Where we can, we also support the research of other agencies and academic institutions. Through further study, we can learn more about the functions and habitat values of offshore shoals and ridges and the effects of sand mining on these special areas.

https://www.nero.noaa.gov/stories/2014/protectingoffshorehabitats.html

[DarkSkies]

Thanks for the responses, people....:HappyWave:
There are several better alternatives...as some of you have pointed out.....more importantly, they are less costly in the long run. which as slated, will end up costing over a $$ Billion in tax dollars, most of which will be wasted as the sand washes away with each storm....


Some have said this is a surf fishing issue....but it can affect those who fish from boats as well....
** Something to think about...
For each distinct area, as I understand it...... the ACOE is charged with investigating the potential environmental/ecosystem scope and potential damage of the project to each area....

This area in question is a separate and distinct environmental area, has been untouched by replenishment for over 75 years....and managed to withstand all of the century's worst storms, without sand replenishment...:eek:

For anyone who fishes from a boat...the inshore area there is some of the best blackfish and seabass fishing in Monmouth County....







Questions for the class of fishermen?...
1. Does anyone know if they have done an environmental/ecosystem impact study that is specific to that area?
2. One which encompasses not only the jetties/groins, but all the inshore boulder fields which any good fisherman knows hold nice blackfish and seabass for most of the year?

(I know the answer to this....just want to see if any one else knows....) :)

[hookset]

showing long branch and pier village replenishment from helicopter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpbRRKQ2eaM

ocean city maryland, Halfway through you see the usacoe guy explaining how they do no harm to the environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf9JK1xs_7c

[hookset]

interesting tv overview of dredgers throughout the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVCrP8ZvX8o

hesco concertainers one alternative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emqaQebk5fQ

[hookset]

affecting marine wildlife

http://www.brynmawr.edu/geology/geomorph/beachnourishmentinfo.html

http://www.conserveturtles.org/velador.php?page=velart27

http://coastalcare.org/sections/inform/beach-nourishment/

asmfc
http://w.asmfc.org/uploads/file/beachNourishment.pdf

different structures
http://www.beachapedia.org/Shoreline_Structures

[hookset]

from 2011 long term affects
http://www.falw.vu.nl/nl/Images/Leewis2012a_tcm19-303084.pdf

[seamonkey]

from 2011 long term affects
http://www.falw.vu.nl/nl/Images/Leewis2012a_tcm19-303084.pdf

That was interesting. I wonder if the army corps have done that much research on long term affects.


5. Conclusions and management implications
We showed no negative long-term consequences of beachnourishment on the abundance of the sampled species. However,beach nourishment can alter the community composition, asbecame clear from the elevated abundance of Scolelepis squamata
after nourishment. This also shows that S. squamata is an opportunisticspecies and may act as a potential ecological indicator.Morphology and wave characteristics are important to allspecies, but every species has its own specific habitat demands,which should be taken into account when planning nourishments.Moreover, beach slope and sediment characteristicsshould be matched with the original beach (Janssen et al., 2011).Not only grain size distribution is important, but also sorting andskewness should be taken into account, since we found theseto be of importance for Haustorius arenarius and Bathyporeiasarsi. Whether these ?new? parameters are truly of ecologicalsignificance for the species, or merely indicators of morphology,remains unknown to this point and should be investigatedexperimentally.Monitoring pre- and post-nourishment remains of the greatestimportance to gain more insight in survival and recovery of macroinvertebratefauna after impacts. Further extension of ourfundamental knowledge on species-specific survival, recolonisationand settlement behavior, and habitat demands will ensurenourishment to be more ecologically based in the future.

[storminsteve]

Another looney idea, barrier islands 10 miles offshore at a cost of 10-12 billion.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/03/after_sandy_feds_mull_plan_for_artificial_islands. html

[surferman]

^^^^ Stormin that idea seems looney! There will be no waves left and where will we surf? This one guy says we can take day boats to the islands to surf and fish. How practical is that?:kooky:


"The islands 10 to 12 miles off the coast would be uninhabited, though day trips for surfing or fishing might be allowed, Blumberg said. They would be built by pumping sand atop some hard base made of rock, concrete or other material, he said.Steve Sandberg, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said funding for at least some of the proposals is already available as part of the $60 billion in Sandy aid that Congress passed last year. Other money could come from disaster recovery grants as well as public and private-sector funding, according to the Rebuild by Design website.

A gap would be left between the New York and New Jersey island groups, mainly to allow water from the Hudson River to flow out into the ocean.
Blumberg also said computer modeling has shown such islands would have produced vastly lesser damage during Sandy, Hurricane Donna in 1962 and the destructive December 1992 nor'easter.
Aside from the formidable cost, many other obstacles remain. Stewart Farrell, head of Stockton College's Coastal Research Center, said numerous government agencies would have to cooperate.
"The sand borrow sites always run into strong objections from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: 'Something MIGHT live there,'" he said. "Next in line would be the historical preservationists: You can't cover up Captain Kidd's treasure ships, no way! And every 19th-century coal barge is an historical treasure. Then there are abundant submarine cables, lines, pipes and rights of way."

Surfers aren't stoked by the idea.
"This would forever change the Jersey shore," said John Weber of the Surfrider Foundation. "Bayfronts are very different from oceanfronts, and this would change oceanfronts into bayfronts. People that spent all that money to live on the ocean would be facing something very different. And this does nothing to address rising sea levels; we'll still have homes that will still get flooded due to rising sea levels."

[captnemo]

It would ruin the inshore fishing. I think they looked at dubai as a model for this. Those folks created a series of islands representing palms out of rocks and sand. The last I read some of those islands are shrinking due to erosion. It's something that would require yearly maintenance. They have billions of oil dollars there so it's not an issues. In NJ it would be and fall on the backs of the middle class. just my .02

[buckethead]

Can any of you folks with scientific background make sense of this?


http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25736254?uid=3739808&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103799095777

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25736258?uid=3739808&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103799095777

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/25736257?uid=3739808&uid=2134&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103799095777

Another scientific paper about groin notching

http://www.jstor.org/stable/i25736240
(if the links above are messed up those papers can be found here)

[jigfreak]

One of those tiny print pdfs. If anyone can read that you are a better man then me. I gave up.

[buckethead]

I guess no one spoke loud enough for alternatives to be considered. Pallone was pleased. What a joke this will be as every winter most of it will be washed away.
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/blogs/item/77477-beach-replenishment-set-for-southern-deal-to-loch-arbour?l=me

[jigfreak]

Don't get me started about pallone. He hasn't done anything for the fishermen in the last 10 years. I really believe he is getting financial kickbacks or extra contributions from the families of the contractors and all the people he is in bed with. so even if there was a better alternative it would not be discussed. The only thing is there is no proof here. All those families in long branch and deal who get there prop lines extended ocean side think he's a saint.

[surfstix1963]

All politicians are getting kickbacks and also giving contracts out to those that donated $$$ for their election that's how they get their money,I just laugh at this dredging and sand replenishment, not that I'm an expert or anything but 20 years of dock building taught me a few things about dredging if you pump it out and have nothing to hold it there your virtually pissing up the proverbial rope not that this is rocket science but jetties,groins,snow fence and beach grass have been doing pretty well over the years and as mentioned their are other alternatives but it takes too many $$$ from the political pockets vs. doing something new that would probably work better then throwing sand on a jetty:kooky: kind of like dumping sand through a strainer.:huh:

[buckethead]

Just read this. Apparently sand is the only way to go in NJ but not for NY. This smells worse than 3 day old fish.
http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2015/03/17/picture-of-the-day-coney-island-scheme/?uid=17788%20update%20Dredging%20today%2C%202015-03-18

[buckethead]

All politicians are getting kickbacks and also giving contracts out to those that donated $$$ for their election that's how they get their money,I just laugh at this dredging and sand replenishment, not that I'm an expert or anything but 20 years of dock building taught me a few things about dredging if you pump it out and have nothing to hold it there your virtually pissing up the proverbial rope not that this is rocket science but jetties,groins,snow fence and beach grass have been doing pretty well over the years and as mentioned their are other alternatives but it takes too many $$$ from the political pockets vs. doing something new that would probably work better then throwing sand on a jetty:kooky: kind of like dumping sand through a strainer.:huh:

I definitely agree with this. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[cowherder]

Sickening.

[finchaser]

The federal government (Obama) trying to look good about Sandy gave all kinds of money to the Army Corp of Morons. they dangled the carrot and Pallone threw us under the bus (the fisherman's friend) and decided his area of Monmouth county where he happens to live (2 blocks from the Ocean),that Locke Harbor and surrounding towns needed to be protected. The money used for the project happened to go into his district report card for reelection. Now that we went to meetings the Army corp admitted there are better ways to protect the coast but the contracts have been awarded and they are not in the jetty building business. Remember they now state they are not protecting the rich peoples property they are restructuring the coast line to its original geographic shape and status something like that.

The notching idea has not been proven to work its from a college professor hypothetical computer study and he says it will even though it failed in Spring Lake. The northern most jetty in every town was the longest and put there to cause the sand to sweep in and filled the other jetties which worked for years have been removed.

The inlets which have longer North than south jetties now scoop the sand and fill in the inlets which now need dredging 3 to 4 time a year instead of every 1 to 2 years.
They have run out of sand since it needs to be a certain grain size so they are paying a company millions to find sand as Sandy hook and cape may get bigger and bigger.

Art Nelson a free diver has been to our club (Shark River Surf Anglers) and showed DVD's of before and after replenishment which to keep it short total life to a dead sea. He has sent these DVD to Pallone and other Government agency's who do not comment on the DVD's. They state their studies show no distruction has been done to the enviorment. Bathers this past summer in Belmar complained that their feet turned orange fron walking in the sand the answer was not hazardous the sun will bleach the sand. the sand in Mantoloking was black since it was the muck from the bay which also would be bleached wrong 2 northeaster took it all away

But don't worry its a 10 year program I suggest we all buy boats as there is no reason for bait and game fish to come to the beach. IMO this is why there was not really a good 2014 fall run

Sorry for the long post

[surfrob]

The last quote contains the crux of the matter "People that spent all that money to live on the ocean".

All this nonsense is because people spent money to have their home or business "on" the ocean. Well, the ocean is taking them up on the idea and then they get mad.

[cowherder]

The notching idea has not been proven to work its from a college professor hypothetical computer study and he says it will even though it failed in Spring Lake. The northern most jetty in every town was the longest and put there to cause the sand to sweep in and filled the other jetties which worked for years have been removed.


Sorry for the long post

Why would you apologize for that finchaser that was a wealth of wisdom! I agree with the notching not working. I don't know as much about it as you do. Also It just doesn't make sense that they say sand is the way to go in NJ and are making more jetties over in that NY thread that someone posted. Something is not right. We take it all like little sheep waiting to be slaughtered. BOHICA!
Always enjoy your posts finchaser. I wish someone like you could be on the fisheries board instead of the puppets like fote and that jcaa guy whatever his name is.

[seamonkey]

The last quote contains the crux of the matter "People that spent all that money to live on the ocean".

All this nonsense is because people spent money to have their home or business "on" the ocean. Well, the ocean is taking them up on the idea and then they get mad.

You can't fight long term effects of the ocean. You can stop it and slow it down. In the end mother nature will win. The army corps should understand that with all the science gobbledegook they put out.

thanks for posting that as well finchaser. Always enjoy your take on things.

[blitzhunter]

In the end mother nature will win.
Read that and thought of this commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_S7LOcgxa4

[VSdreams]

It's a shame they are doing this for staten island but would not do it for NJ.
http://www.dredgingt...05-07&uid=17788 (http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2015/05/06/living-breakwaters-barrier-announced/?utm_source=emark&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+update+Dredging+today%2C+2015-05-07&uid=17788)
Living Breakwaters Barrier Announced



Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced the kickoff off a $60 million "Living Breakwaters" barrier that will provide critical defenses against coastal erosion and grow the natural habitat for finfish, shellfish and crustations on the south shore of Staten Island.

The water-based barrier, which includes an oyster reef to further break waves and filter sea water, complements the Staten Island NY Rising final resiliency plan to protect the area in response to the devastating effects of Superstorm Sandy.

The Living Breakwaters project is funded as an awardee of the federal Rebuild by Design Competition.
"Staten Island was impacted greatly by Superstorm Sandy, and it is fitting that the first Rebuild by Design project to be implemented will be to protect these communities from the severe weather that is a result of our changing climate,? Governor Cuomo said. "

This project will make Staten Island the model for resiliency and innovation, using state of the art techniques to keep communities safer and better prepared for the next extreme weather event.

Living Breakwaters will provide environmental co-benefits of improving water quality and protecting the marine habitat by reducing the force of waves in the area.

The barrier will be constructed in Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay, which is the optimal site to cultivate a network of large scale habitat breakwaters and reefs.
Once completed, Living Breakwaters will form a "necklace" of in-water structures that span Staten Island's South Shore.

[J Barbosa]

build much longer jetties and make them only accessible to fisherman named Barbosa...

[hookedonbass]

Heres something I found. Midway Beach
http://www.nj.com/ledgerlive/index.ssf/2013/02/ledger_live_video_rebuilding_n.html



don't know if this was posted before but they did find better alternatives at Midway Beach. And it did not cost 10 million dollars per mile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa3qQ4iofcY

[surferman]

build much longer jetties and make them only accessible to fisherman named Barbosa...

You should of came down to cape may 6 years ago lol. We really could have used you then. All the old jetties are mostly buried now.

[surferman]

Something I read about in Jay Mann's blog. Pretty good read.


The Great Holgate Groin Arises From the Mist, New Non-Jetty Is Going Out to Bid This Fall

By JAY MANN | Aug 23, 2017
I need surfers, surfcasters and Holgaters to gather around the crackling campfire with me, to talk about … a giant, 1,000-foot groin, slowly inching its way toward us as we speak. “Run away!” Right?
No need to rush blindly into the forest. This is a groin of a different color, so to speak. It’s the type of groin made of rock and built perpendicular to the beach, where it theoretically slows beach erosion.
To get a feel for this approaching mega-groin, one must suffer through a Groin 101 refresher course. Locals can take a water break … but don’t go far because what I’ll be talking about isn’t your father’s groin, but a new-age variety.
What we almost always call “jetties” on LBI, most often … aren’t. Technically, a jetty shores up a navigable channel. In correct-speak, Barnegat Inlet’s jetties are bona fide jetty-jetties. LBI’s regularly placed beachline rock abutments are groins. They were placed here shortly after the Great March Storm of 1962. Their supposed purpose: to hamper shoreline sand from traveling laterally along the beach, north to south.
Did they work? Let’s stealthily sidestep that question by philosophically suggesting that theories come and go – as did/does beach sand.
With that entry-level groin terminology in mind, I can assume my non-campfire voice to announce the south end of LBI might see a modern groin arise, one that will outshine all other Island groins – which won’t be that hard since nearly all of LBI’s landmark “jetties” have been sanded under by replenishment.
Reliable sources have told me Long Beach Township is rather rapidly moving forward with its earlier-announced plans to have the state build what is called a terminal groin. It would be placed right where the famed Wooden Jetty surfing venue now comes and goes, based on the whims of replenishment sand.
The project may go out to bid by this fall. Even then, it’s not a slam-dunk done deal. I’ll anecdotally suggest that the township’s effort to grab a groin for Holgate has a far better and speedier chance of fruition than the dredging of Little Egg Inlet.
Should the permitting process run a better course than the LEI dredging, the Island could soon be feeling the rumble of trucks carrying Pennsylvania granite rocks to the south end, each carefully-shaped rock being part and parcel to the first new Island groin in well over half a century. For fun, I’ll momentarily dub it the Great Groin of Holgate.
Initial reports have this terminal groin measuring 1,000 feet in length, give or take. Not only would its rocks envelope the current 500-foot Wooden Jetty, but it would carry another 500 feet beyond. The height and width of the groin would likely be on par with higher LBI groins, like the one at Holyoke Avenue in Beach Haven.
The Great Groin of Holgate would be “notched” toward the east end, offering a lower point for some sand to get past – notionally preventing the sand-starving of beaches to the south, i.e. the refuge-adjacent front beaches, down to the inlet.
Beyond the notch, the groin’s far east end would rise again, matching the height of the westerly portion. It’s a bit akin to the set-up of the North Jetty in Barnegat Inlet – though much smaller … and a groin. Just testing your recall. I imagine there would have to be some navigational markers on the far end.
(This is a perfect time for me to swear up and down that I’m neither for nor against the Great Groin of Holgate. I kid you not. I might interpret the hell out of it below, but that’s just my cursedly analytical mind. If things proceed as expected, there will likely be a whole lotta lip, both for and against. That’s cool by me – and I’ll make it a point to appreciate both sides herein.)
IT’S ON IN N.C. : By way of terminal groin precedent, Holden Beach and Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, are in the final phases of building one, beginning this fall. That effort could offer a read on a modern new-age groin.
I’m partially basing my concept of a newer, better groin on comments by Spencer Rogers, an erosion specialist at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
“The history of terminal groins is certainly replete with downdrift failures and unintended circumstances,” said Rogers. He then changed course and added, “But those earlier efforts had a lot to teach the scientific and engineering communities, and most of them are more than 50 years old. But the modern designs have been much more effective and have had quite tolerable impacts when they are properly designed.”
The North Carolina terminal groin would be 700 feet long and cost in the neighborhood of $2 million. I’ll extrapolate from that the Holgate groin would easily run an additional mil, i.e. $3 million … plus.
By the by, the state actually has just such money tucked away in a dedicated fund for such beachly things. While neither supporting nor condemning a terminal groin, I’d always prefer that some of that socked-away cash come to LBI. Via taxes, we have paid into it royally.
MY KNEE-JERK READ: Should Wooden Jetty become the Great Holgate Groin, I’ll bet the clam house that it will form into a surfing mecca, based on the wave dynamics thereabouts. No doubt the likes of Surfriders will obligatorily disagree. But I’ll clearly be proven spot-on in the long wave run.
What’s more, if left to current devices, Wooden Jetty will spend decades being repeatedly covered and recovered in replen sand – not a good surfing scenario. It doesn’t take a surfing rocket scientist to surmise a 1,000-foot groin is preferable in this case – and will play out in the favor of waveriders. Off-Island waveriders need not get involved. Locals, please do – and think it through.
As to fishing in and around such a grand groin, angling history speaks for itself. Big-*** groins are bait and fish magnets, not only on and near the groin, but, in Holgate’s case, also downdrift of it. I see a major groin as becoming a focal point for angling. At the same time, what’s there now is seen as quite decent by many a surfcaster. Yet another reason for my middle-ness.
Critically thinking, it’s the far south end that could get a kick in the groin, sand-wise. Even with that theoretical new-age notch letting some southbound sand onto refuge-adjacent beaches, sand deprivation from the parking lot southward is a very real risk. The zone all the way to the Rip has long been Crazyland when it comes to sand erosion and accretion. That concern voiced, I’m told that a Great Holgate Groin would be modernly designed to allow rapid tweaking action of its rocks – to achieve the ideal permeability. What’s more, the amount of sand involved with future LBI replenishments will amount to massive amounts of Holgate-bound material, easily enough to maintain the beloved far south end, even with a groin-stop in place.
I’m betting there will be a tad more on this in the near future. I’m ready, knowing I get a sexy story regardless of where the sand flies.