Massive beach restoration project for Orange County coastline approved – CBS | KCAL News
The Federal Government has agreed to a major beach restoration project in Orange County to restore almost 2 million cubic feet of sand lost to storm erosion over the past several years.
The sand will be dredged from the sea and added to replenish the coastline from Seal Beach to Bolsa Chica to Huntington Beach and as far as the Newport Beach Pier.
“We’re experiencing a large amount of receding of sand into the ocean,” said Kevin Pearsall, State Parks Superintendent.
The project will help protect property and roads from flooding. Seal Beach saw flooding in January.
“It’s nerve wracking that they have to do that, but time erodes everything,” said Colleen Walsh, a Bolsa Chica resident…
“Recycling” Glass Back to Sand … For Beaches?
There have been several recent proposals and some projects actually underway to grind up glass bottles and use this ground glass to replenish beaches. Along most shorelines, other than in tropical environments, the dominant mineral making up the beach sand is quartz, which is silicon dioxide (SiO2), the same elemental composition as glass. While this may initially seem like a good solution for replenishing or nourishing disappearing or narrow beaches, this concept is not a sustainable or effective approach.
Initially derived from silica sand glass is a valuable resource that is already in a pure form that can most effectively be recycled or melted down to make more glass, rather than being put on the beach where it will be lost to the ocean over time as it is carried offshore or alongshore…
Use of Pulverized Recycled Glass for Beach Nourishment: A Review – Georgia Coastal Research Council (GCRC)
This paper reviews geotechnical, biological, and abiotic analyses conducted on the experimental placement of recycled glass on beaches in Florida. It will also describe the experiences local governments have had when considering the use of recycled glass as an alternative material for beach nourishment.
Coastal erosion caused by increased extreme weather events and sea level rise is escalating the rate and extent to which beaches are washing away. Traditionally, inland and offshore sand and dredged material from rivers, canals, and the ocean have been used to nourish beaches, but these resources are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain…
How A Used Bottle Becomes A New Bottle – NPR Planet Money
The rise of curbside recycling programs over the past few decades has meant more glass recycling. But for a long time, many recycling centers didn’t have the technology to turn recycled glass into the raw material for new bottles. Instead, recycled glass often wound up being used as a cheap construction material, or even to cover landfills.
Now, with new technology that can better sort glass collected in curbside recycling, more used glass bottles can be turned back into new glass bottles. To see how this works, we went to a glass recycling facility and a bottle factory…
Outside a recycling plant in Jersey City, N.J., there are piles and piles of what looks like garbage.
But it’s actually broken glass…
Can recycled glass help restore Louisiana’s eroding coastline? – the Guardian
Dave Clements, owner of Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge, a beloved dive bar in New Orleans, has watched Louisiana’s coast shrink year after year.
“I used to go fishing quite a bit down in Delacroix area. Me and my buddy would go out in a flat boat,” he says. Clements remembers finding “a little spot, a little island” where he and his friend would take breaks while fishing for redfish, sheepshead, speckled trout and flounder. When they went back to the same spot a month later, the patch of land was gone. “I actually stopped fishing because it was so depressing..”
Restoring Louisiana’s Shoreline, One Glass Bottle at a Time – GIZMODO
Glass Half Full is redirecting glass from landfills and turning it into much-needed sand.
Louisiana’s shoreline is rapidly eroding due to sea level rise and extreme weather fueled by climate change. But a scrappy New Orleans glass recycling initiative, Glass Half Full, is rounding up as many of the city’s glass bottles as possible to create sand for coastal restoration.
The team, a winner of the 2023 Gizmodo Science Fair, got started in 2020…
Gov. DeSantis touts post-Hurricane Ian beach renourishment funding – Florida Politics
Volusia County is set to receive $37.7M out of the $100M set aside for beach renourishment.
Volusia County and other areas that suffered beach erosion from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole are set to receive $100 million for beach renourishment projects as part of legislation passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in December…
‘It’s reaching a crisis point’: Outer Banks leaders say they’re out of funding to save threatened beach communities – WRAL News
Dare County leaders said communities are at risk from coastal erosion, but state law is holding them back from finding potential solutions.
Dare County leaders said they can no longer afford to build back beaches in the Outer Banks that have been swallowed by the ocean, sending multiple houses collapsing in recent years…
North Topsail is getting millions for beach nourishment. How long will the sand last? – Star News Online
Last month North Carolina doled out nearly $20 million in grants to help coastal communities better fortify and rebuild beach infrastructure battered by recent hurricanes, tropical storms, and nor’easters.
But in a world where climate change is bringing higher seas and more frequent and ferocious storms to our shores, is investing taxpayer dollars in the sand that’s all but guaranteed to have a limited lifespan on the beach a smart investment?