“A continuous sandbag wall on North Topsail Beach, N.C. shows the shore-hardening effect of such structures on beach loss, either by initial placement or by causing beach narrowing and loss. The photo was taken in October 2016 after Hurricane Matthew passed through the area. Note that the row of buildings is sitting on the beach and will suffer the same fate as other houses that have been lost in storms there (e.g., Hurricane Fran)”. —© William Neal, Orrin Pilkey & Norma Longo.
Photo courtesy of: Ken Blevins/Wilmington StarNews.
Excerpts;
The Senate and House are finalizing another set of enviromental regulations, including one that loosens rules on sandbag walls and another that would allow using sand from Diamond Shoals for beach nourishment without testing it first…
Read Full Article; The Outers Banks Voice (04-05-2017)
Let’s end war with ocean, Op-Ed by Orrin H. Pilkey
The immediate future most certainly holds more miles of sandbags, resulting in more narrowed and ugly beaches.But this trend can be halted and reversed. Now is the time to make peace with the ocean.The time is now to stop sandbagging, both physically with no more shore-hardening structures, and politically with no more exceptions to the intent of the rules, no more undermining existing legislation, and a return to enforcement…
Sandbagging at the Shore: North Carolina’s Coastal Sand Bags and Political Sandbaggers; By William Neal, Orrin Pilkey & Norma Longo;
The wonder of modern English is how social use of language expands and changes the meaning of words. Sand bag is a bag filled with sand used for temporary construction—quickly made, easily transported, and easily removed. Typically, sandbagging is the emplacement of sand bags to construct a temporary protective wall or barrier, such as a dike or dam to hold back flood waters , or protection on the battlefield. But the term ‘sandbagging’ has taken on an array of other meanings…
