US Beach erosion forces officials to search for alternatives to sand

[lovuian]

US beach erosion forces officials to search for alternatives to sand
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/americas/view/302831/1/.html

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida: Parts of the United States are facing a shortage of sand, and officials are working on innovative ways to fix the problem.

In Florida, experts said beach erosion – caused by a rising sea level and severe weather – is threatening the state's heavily populated coastline and valuable tourism industry.

But traditional supplies of sand used since the 1970s are running low, so local agencies are investing millions of dollars to explore alternative methods of repairing beaches and preventing erosion.

The John U Lloyd State Park on Florida's Atlantic coast is typical of many beaches in the state – it is a magnet for tourists and people wanting to buy properties with a sea view.

Beaches protect coastal cities from hurricane damage and are a haven for wildlife, including sea turtles.

That is why local officials have spent nearly 24 million dollars to restore this beach, along with another nine kilometres of coastline, in a process called "beach re-nourishment"
more...

The sea rises and coastline disappears

[fed-up]

1. NY Times story buried in travel section 9/16

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/travel/16heads.html?ex=1347595200&en=677cb16c0e4e85a6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Heads Up | Shoreline Erosion
The Search for Sand Is No Day at the Beach

IT is arguably America’s best-known stretch of beaches, a playground populated by tightly toned models and sunburned tourists alike. But South Florida’s shoreline is becoming known for something far more ominous: the sand shortage that is threatening to reshape all of the nation’s coasts.

Blame it on global warming or just the vagaries of nature. Whatever the cause, the reality is forcing coastal communities to re-evaluate how they’re going to keep their beaches wide and welcoming. In the process, they’re looking at a combination of creative and practical solutions, from recycling glass bottles into sand to buying their beaches (or, at least, their sand) from the Bahamas or other sources.

...snip

Some solutions involve controversy. Something like class warfare ensued when the Army Corps of Engineers, which handles most beach renourishment projects throughout the country, looked at the possibility of taking offshore sand from St. Lucie County, a mainly middle-class area about 100 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center, and bringing it to Miami Beach. The president of the Florida Senate, Ken Pruitt, a Republican from Port St. Lucie, labeled it “almost a criminal act.” The Army plan was eventually dropped.


...snip

Broward County, which completed a $44.5 million renourishment project in 2006, is considering using recycled glass bottles (since, after all, glass is made from sand). More than $500,000 is being committed to testing the idea, exploring everything from the response of beachgoers to the ability of sea turtles to nest in it. But even if the glass idea works, the issue comes down to a matter of money, according to Mr. Higgins, the erosion administrator. Turning glass back into sand requires millions of dollars in equipment and processing. If the cost proves too “outrageous,” Mr. Higgins said, then “we will have to import our sand.”


...snip



but no money is available for meth lab cleanup :(


edited to add

http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/wfla/factsheet/

West-Central Florida Coastal Studies Project

Fact Sheet - Limited Sand Resources for Eroding Beaches

[Wilber_Stool]

2. It's not about oil.

We want their sand.

[annabanana]

3. Ru - Roh!

You just KNOW that someone is standing by, ready to sell us something incredibly cheap to make or accumulate, dangerous for our health, destructive to the environment. . at an astoundingly high price... in perpetuity. . for a no bid contract..

[trof]

4. Gulf coast AL has done it twice in the last 5 years.

Towns of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

Like huge vacuum cleaners, barges anchor 1/2 mile or so off beach and suck up sand from the bottom, pump it onshore.
Bulldozers level it out.

Costs millions.
The another hurricane hits and here we go again.