I was on the water yesterday viewing the Gulf front properties along 30-A. It is interesting to see different types of seawalls people are installing in an effort to protect their property. It will be very interesting what stands up to the storms and what doesn't. I hope we never find out. I have attached some photos --Blake
Seawalls
- Thread starter Blake
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An effective seawall should dissipate the energy from the wave action. Sand dunes work best because they absorb a lot of the energy before the wave heads back out to sea. Every man-made barrier I have seen creates an energy backwash. The result being sand washed away from the beach. If the barrier is big/tall enough, the property is "saved" at the expense of the beach. What you have left is usually hard packed sand and no beach to speak of at high tide. 
That's what happened at Fripp with what they did to save property. You can get trapped during a walk on the beach when the tide starts coming in and must escape via the closest walkover and walk home on the nearest roadway. It's awful and ugly.DolphinDude said:An effective seawall should dissipate the energy from the wave action. Sand dunes work best because they absorb a lot of the energy before the wave heads back out to sea. Every man-made barrier I have seen creates an energy backwash. The result being sand washed away from the beach. If the barrier is big/tall enough, the property is "saved" at the expense of the beach. What you have left is usually hard packed sand and no beach to speak of at high tide.
Beach Runner said:
That sounds scary indeed!!
Thanks for the photos - they are sad.
and to think, they could have all had a nice jetty rock covered broken dune face across the whole county 
the proof, and why not to use seawalls:
http://www.seahorsecontractors.com/rock/open.html
btw, turtles nest in sand on top of rock and even small pockets of sand within solid rock all the time
it should be fun watching and betting on which wall 'breaches' first!
carribean island related, but useful:
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero7.htm
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero8.htm
the proof, and why not to use seawalls:
http://www.seahorsecontractors.com/rock/open.html
btw, turtles nest in sand on top of rock and even small pockets of sand within solid rock all the time
it should be fun watching and betting on which wall 'breaches' first!
carribean island related, but useful:
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero7.htm
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero8.htm
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wow, this island thingy from UNESCO (is that the UN?) is the most valuable resource I've ever seen for beach erosion (and other things):
start page: http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero6.htm
neat!
too bad no one's ever read it at the courthouse
if you go through the cases at the bottom of the page and you'll have a full education on beach erosion and the fixes of it
wow - there it is (in Case #2)!
"Maintain a wide and stable beach.
A wide beach is the best protection against the high waves and storm surge generated by a hurricane. A beach is a flexible barrier which will be eroded during the storm but rebuilt quickly afterwards. Any measures which help to protect a beach or dune area, such as setting new buildings well back from the active wave impact zone, conserving natural beach and dune vegetation, dune stabilization practices and preventing beach sand mining, will help to conserve the beach as a natural storm barrier."
WOW! (still in Case #2) "Allow time for the beach to recover naturally. Do not rush out and build walls or other hard structures, since these may actually impede recovery."
get ready for some new gulffront property!
start page: http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/ero6.htm
neat!
too bad no one's ever read it at the courthouse
if you go through the cases at the bottom of the page and you'll have a full education on beach erosion and the fixes of it
wow - there it is (in Case #2)!
"Maintain a wide and stable beach.
A wide beach is the best protection against the high waves and storm surge generated by a hurricane. A beach is a flexible barrier which will be eroded during the storm but rebuilt quickly afterwards. Any measures which help to protect a beach or dune area, such as setting new buildings well back from the active wave impact zone, conserving natural beach and dune vegetation, dune stabilization practices and preventing beach sand mining, will help to conserve the beach as a natural storm barrier."
WOW! (still in Case #2) "Allow time for the beach to recover naturally. Do not rush out and build walls or other hard structures, since these may actually impede recovery."
get ready for some new gulffront property!
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This is a hot-button issue if ever there was one. I understand that homes must be saved, but at what cost?
My question is, why is the county not stepping in and instutiting some kind of guidelines/rules so if there is to be seawall construction, it is consistent from an aesthetic standpoint?
To me, nothing is uglier than four beach homes all in a row with four different kinds of seawalls.
My question is, why is the county not stepping in and instutiting some kind of guidelines/rules so if there is to be seawall construction, it is consistent from an aesthetic standpoint?
To me, nothing is uglier than four beach homes all in a row with four different kinds of seawalls.
JB said:
It really is time for that vomiter smilie. I am curious about these structures, but will try and not see them in person if I can help it. Are these the "quick" fix walls or have they gotten a final okay from the county?