BEACH EROSION

In a typical beach nourishment project, sand is collected from an offshore location by a dredge and is piped onto the beach. A slurry of sand and water exits the pipe on the beach and once the water drains away, only sand is left behind. Bulldozers move this new sand on the beach until the beach matches the design profile. Beach nourishment is a preferred way to add sand to a system that has been starved by the altered inlets because it provides storm protection benefits and has the least impact on the coastal system. An additional benefit of beach restoration projects is that they quickly restore shorebird and marine turtle habitat.