Rapid erosion reveals decades-old infrastructure at California beach – SF Gate

Big waves at the Wedge, Newport Beach, CA on Saturday, July 25, 2009 (by Mark Roland CC BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Massive swells created by Hurricane Genevieve earlier this month have caused huge changes to the California coastline. An entire beach near San Diego nearly disappeared, and access to one of Malibu’s most scenic beaches remains closed indefinitely due to severe erosion. And at the Wedge in Newport Beach, a celebrated surf spot on the Balboa Peninsula, not only has the sandy area shrunk dramatically..

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).

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…