Beach Nourishment: A Critical Look – Gary Griggs | Journal of Coastal Research
![An aerial view of the Virginia Beach Hurricane Protection and Renourishment project. which replenished 1.25 million cubic yards of sand, increasing the beach from 150 and 280 feet wide to as much as 300 feet (Courtesy of the Norfolk District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/9022723593_f0ad24ace6_k-798x532.jpg)
More than $15 billion, mostly federal dollars, have been spent moving sand to the shoreline for both recreational and shoreline protection benefits. Still, whether in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Florida, or California, the life span of the sand added artificially to these beaches in many cases has been relatively short and in some instances has been less than a year…
Sand Dollars – CBS News Investigations
![A 2015 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project on Long Beach Island, NJ pumped more than 8 million cubic yards of offshore sand onto the beach to create a dune and berm system designed to reduce storm damages (Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public domain, via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/25021680342_d0ed70f100_k-798x532.jpg)
Federal agencies spend millions every year replacing sand on beaches. Some experts say it’s a waste of tax money….
Add sand, lose sand, repeat. The climate conundrum for beaches – E&E News
![Contractors pump sand onto miles of Brevard County beaches in Florida (Courtesy of United States Army Corps of Engineers, Public Domain, via USACE Jacksonville District website).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/141222-A-CE999-309-798x532.jpg)
Rebuilding beaches after hurricanes is costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars more than expected as the Army Corps of Engineers pumps mountains of sand onto storm-obliterated shorelines…
A Massachusetts town spent $600K on shore protection. A winter storm washed it away days later – the Washington Post
![Salisbury Beach, December 2016 (by Tim Sackton CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/31886673371_32216b09b6_c.jpg)
A Massachusetts beach community is scrambling after a weekend storm washed away $600,000 in sand that was trucked in to protect homes, roads and other infrastructure…
Why Oak Island is looking 18 miles off its coast for sand to nourish its eroded beach – Wilmington StarNews Online
![Eroded: Oak Island Beach in Oak Island, North Carolina in 2019 (by Gerry Dincher, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/33087385548_35df372e64_c-798x599.jpg)
Faced with an eroding beach, Oak Island wants to pump fresh sand onto its oceanfront. But finding a viable sand source might mean going a long way offshore…
Can the ‘sand motor’ save West Africa’s eroding coast? – Grist Magazine
![Aerial view of the middle of Zandmotor Beach, a large peninsula constructed on the coast of the Netherlands near the The Hague (by Joop van Houdt, courtesy of Rijkswaterstaat, Public Domain via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/23120130536_00fbb5a69b_c2-798x599.jpg)
As sea levels rise, engineers are using massive Dutch-inspired sand sculptures to protect shorefront settlements…It’s called the “sand motor,” and it comes from the Netherlands, a low-lying nation with centuries of experience in coastal protection…
Dredging, beach replenishment continues in Monmouth County – PBS
![First Phase of Port Monmouth, NJ Coastal Storm Management Project Begins - July 1, 2014 (courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public Domain, via Flickr).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/14798445992_4759699d69_k-798x493.jpg)
Tens of millions of dollars pour into the state each year to fund beach replenishment efforts ..
“…we are doing it with the intent of preserving the economic usefulness of oceanfront properties that are being threatened by erosion and shoreline migration, sea-level rise and storm waves and so forth…That methodology (used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) is flawed because it uses property value to determine the benefits of nourishment and our belief is that our property values aren’t the correct way to assess the utilization or return on public funds. A better way of doing that is looking at what are the public benefits.”
– Andy Coburn, Associate Director for the Study of Developed Shorelines | Western Carolina State University
Sea Isle’s Beach Replenishment Project to Start in Spring – Sea Isle News
![Postcard Beach scene from Boardwalk, Sea Isle City N. J. c. 1930–1945 (courtesy of Boston Public Library, The Tichnor Brothers Collection, public domain).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Post-Card-Sea-Isle-NJ-scaled-e1701984387516-798x506.jpg)
Sea Isle City approved a $3.2 million funding package Tuesday to pay for its share of a beach replenishment project that will restore parts of its eroded shoreline with 640,000 cubic yards of fresh sand…(that) is part of a $33.7 million project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that will include replenishing the storm-damaged beaches and dunes in the southern end of Ocean City and Strathmere…
The Disappearing Beach – NJ.com
![Aerial view of US Corps of Engineers' Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet Project (courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers).](https://coastalcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/200611-A-EO314-106-798x532.jpeg)
More than $2.6 billion has been spent dumping sand onto the Jersey Shore. Was it worth it?
Waves lap up against the narrow shore of North Wildwood as Patrick Rosenello straightens his sunglasses, and leans against the steel seawall, the soft sand crumbling beneath his tan dress shoes.
Quiet as he is, the mayor doesn’t have to utter a word about how important the tiny specks of sediment are to the resort town. His navy sweater vest says it all.
The municipality’s seal features two dolphins flanking the phrase “Sun and Sand.”