FYI - those are not regular concrete blocks. Those are specifically designed for retention walls. I have seen them stacked very high and hold well, but the walls were not getting whammed by a raging sea.
Seawalls
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back? did you go somewhere? i think not, since you were lurking and almost ready to post, something scathing, i'm sure. but, since we're jumping forward, forgetting old posts...
i will submit: you had no choice, your back was against the wall, and you had a duty to protect your property.
you did quite a bit of research, and chose the route which you thought best to protect said property.
based on historical evidence provided by other posters, retaining walls will probably survive, dunes will not, and the sight of the walls will be left in the wake for all to observe and deal with in the foreseeable(sp?) future.
i'm believing that, many current GF owners will tire of spending money every season and sell(probably not making back the real dollars spent).
i am a pacifist. fear not for you life or ultra-secret identity. we all eventually meet the others on this board, and hopefully someday we will meet. everyone here shares a love for this region, so we'll at least have one thing to talk about.
i will ask you to post a photo of your finished product so we'll have a 'before' reference point. it would be awesome if the 'after' looks the same.
regarding:
tolerance is such a great virtue. i cannot go back and read the entire thread again, it's too draining. but i'm not sure i ever attacked you or your fellow GF owners directly. my questions were more directed towards licensing and enforcement, which you pointed out i clearly did not understand. if i did, i apologize. my tolerance did wear thin with the personal attacks toward anyone who had an opinion that differed from yours. while i agree that it's not your fault, it was your choice that put you/us in the position you're/we're in today. GF owners had a choice to buy and build on a moving medium. the county (maybe) had the choice to allow it. like or not, we're all impacted by the choices of others.
my emotional questions, concerns, and statements have all been made with regards to the environment. we're, yes i'm including you, in deep trouble, big picture wise. the walls are a piece of the whole. the 'take' is real, etc, etc
my concience is clear with regards to personal environmental impact. know that i will continue to post when and where i see fit.
peace
i will submit: you had no choice, your back was against the wall, and you had a duty to protect your property.
you did quite a bit of research, and chose the route which you thought best to protect said property.
based on historical evidence provided by other posters, retaining walls will probably survive, dunes will not, and the sight of the walls will be left in the wake for all to observe and deal with in the foreseeable(sp?) future.
i'm believing that, many current GF owners will tire of spending money every season and sell(probably not making back the real dollars spent).
i am a pacifist. fear not for you life or ultra-secret identity. we all eventually meet the others on this board, and hopefully someday we will meet. everyone here shares a love for this region, so we'll at least have one thing to talk about.
i will ask you to post a photo of your finished product so we'll have a 'before' reference point. it would be awesome if the 'after' looks the same.regarding:
BlueMtnBeachVagrant said:
tolerance is such a great virtue. i cannot go back and read the entire thread again, it's too draining. but i'm not sure i ever attacked you or your fellow GF owners directly. my questions were more directed towards licensing and enforcement, which you pointed out i clearly did not understand. if i did, i apologize. my tolerance did wear thin with the personal attacks toward anyone who had an opinion that differed from yours. while i agree that it's not your fault, it was your choice that put you/us in the position you're/we're in today. GF owners had a choice to buy and build on a moving medium. the county (maybe) had the choice to allow it. like or not, we're all impacted by the choices of others.
my emotional questions, concerns, and statements have all been made with regards to the environment. we're, yes i'm including you, in deep trouble, big picture wise. the walls are a piece of the whole. the 'take' is real, etc, etc
my concience is clear with regards to personal environmental impact. know that i will continue to post when and where i see fit.
peace
katie blue said:
This is all starting to look like the SoWal version of "The Three Little Pigs".
Update on concrete wall, if anyone's interested:
Aaparently the county was already on top of it, as there was already an investigation underway. This was forwarded me minutes ago from a neighbor who received this email from Walton County today:
"This is a follow-up e-mail concerning the concrete wall that is being placed at Sand Cliff Condos. Officer Mark Kelley has been assigned to this case. After the initial site investigation and additional photos taken, a Stop Work Order has been placed on site. The cliff was destroyed by the digging and no further work is to be done until the Department of Environmental Protection has evaluated the cliff destruction and the concrete wall. Also advised them to contact Gerry Demers, Walton County Deputy Building Official concerning certain issues he has with this concrete wall. If our office can be of further assistance or provide additional information please do not hesitate to contact us. We will keep this case open and re-inspect accordinglyuntil the necessary steps have been taken."
Aaparently the county was already on top of it, as there was already an investigation underway. This was forwarded me minutes ago from a neighbor who received this email from Walton County today:
"This is a follow-up e-mail concerning the concrete wall that is being placed at Sand Cliff Condos. Officer Mark Kelley has been assigned to this case. After the initial site investigation and additional photos taken, a Stop Work Order has been placed on site. The cliff was destroyed by the digging and no further work is to be done until the Department of Environmental Protection has evaluated the cliff destruction and the concrete wall. Also advised them to contact Gerry Demers, Walton County Deputy Building Official concerning certain issues he has with this concrete wall. If our office can be of further assistance or provide additional information please do not hesitate to contact us. We will keep this case open and re-inspect accordinglyuntil the necessary steps have been taken."
John R said:back? did you go somewhere? i think not, since you were lurking and almost ready to post, something scathing, i'm sure. but, since we're jumping forward, forgetting old posts...
i will submit: you had no choice, your back was against the wall, and you had a duty to protect your property.
you did quite a bit of research, and chose the route which you thought best to protect said property.
based on historical evidence provided by other posters, retaining walls will probably survive, dunes will not, and the sight of the walls will be left in the wake for all to observe and deal with in the foreseeable(sp?) future.
i'm believing that, many current GF owners will tire of spending money every season and sell(probably not making back the real dollars spent).
i am a pacifist. fear not for you life or ultra-secret identity. we all eventually meet the others on this board, and hopefully someday we will meet. everyone here shares a love for this region, so we'll at least have one thing to talk about.
regarding:
tolerance is such a great virtue. i cannot go back and read the entire thread again, it's too draining. but i'm not sure i ever attacked you or your fellow GF owners directly. my questions were more directed towards licensing and enforcement, which you pointed out i clearly did not understand. if i did, i apologize. my tolerance did wear thin with the personal attacks toward anyone who had an opinion that differed from yours. while i agree that it's not your fault, it was your choice that put you/us in the position you're/we're in today. GF owners had a choice to buy and build on a moving medium. the county (maybe) had the choice to allow it. like or not, we're all impacted by the choices of others.
my emotional questions, concerns, and statements have all been made with regards to the environment. we're, yes i'm including you, in deep trouble, big picture wise. the walls are a piece of the whole. the 'take' is real, etc, etc
my concience is clear with regards to personal environmental impact. know that i will continue to post when and where i see fit.
peace
Dear John R,
I suspect you're really a nice guy. I think you're starting to see the predicament that me and some of my immediate neighbors are in.
I'm NOT defending everyone up and down the beach in regards to retaining walls. Never have, never will. I do believe there's going to be some serious fallout (with non qualified walls) in the end because so many eyes are watching the situation and its outcome.
I have been trying very very hard to not personally attack as of lately. I'm trying to grow up. But I will try very very hard to rip apart posts that I believe continuously "paint (all of) us (GF owners) in a negative light". I have some very nice, thoughtful and caring neighbors. And apparently there are others.
The situation, I believe is not as dire as some would have everyone to believe. Heck, I'm considering buying another gulf front unit because I sense a big pull-back of sorts. It would be like timing the stock market. If another hurricane hits values may go down further (the it's definitely time to buy) OR if there's NOT another hurricane, values will start rising. Oh well. I guess that would make me a "money grabbing" gulf front investor. Someone has to own the property in order for the county to continue collecting taxes on it... might as well be me.
BTW, regarding tolerance, it must be a 2-way street for everyone to truly be happy.
Change of subject...
Just an innocent question: Do you believe beach nourishment will get us back to where we were prior to Opal? I've heard nothing but good feedback regarding the ongoing project in western Walton County.
Thanks and let's try to discover some common ground such as our love for the beach that brought us all here to begin with.
Peace (back at ya),
BMBV
katie blue said:
That's one of the things about those type of retaining walls. When they're more than 10 feet or so high, you have to excavate back a ways to put in the geogrid tie-back system (the black plastic mesh in the pictures). When I saw the pictures, I noted that they were building it a good distance from the bluff and I was thinking they must be recovering some of their yard. But it sounds like they might have dug it out themselves. I'm surprised someone would select that type of wall given they would have to further damage the dune system.
BlueMtnBeachVagrant said:Heck, I'm considering buying another gulf front unit because I sense a big pull-back of sorts. It would be like timing the stock market. If another hurricane hits values may go down further (the it's definitely time to buy) OR if there's NOT another hurricane, values will start rising. Oh well. I guess that would make me a "money grabbing" gulf front investor. Someone has to own the property in order for the county to continue collecting taxes on it... might as well be me.
i too am waiting for the market to yield more play for buyers(and waiting for my telluride house to sell), but i won't be buying on the beach. :roll: with the potential for disaster, i'd think you'd put your money somewhere a little safer, even just north of 30a. caveat emptor...
BlueMtnBeachVagrant said:
see:SoWal Beaches Forum - View Single Post - Study on Geotubes in Texas
BlueMtnBeachVagrant said:
been to mountainfilm?
I am not sure the above will appear in quote formation...but you get the idea....
It seems to me that bmbv has indeed done quite a bit of research and he should be commended on this..I dare to say that few GF owners are as resonsibe or as well informed! If more owners would become active as this, I am sure the beach would not be in such a precarious situation now. Most of the people on this board are owners in one way or another...and they are all very active in trying to procure a solution to the many problems facing said ownership. It is the thousands of other owners that worry me...the ones that really have no clue, I wish they could all read these posts. Ignorance only leads to downfall! While this thread tended to whirl out of control at times, it has been an extremely informative thread.
Doing extensive research on what kind, size, and material to make a hard seawall is like researching the best way to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
The basic premise is absurd. The ultimate out come is certain to all those who are not in complete denial.
The basic premise is absurd. The ultimate out come is certain to all those who are not in complete denial.
I have read this thread for a while. While I do not own property( would love to, but kids in college suck the funds away), I do care about the area. Anything man made that would prevent a beach shoreline being destroyed should be skipped.
Having been to St Simmons Island, one of the major drawbacks was the horrible retaining walls. No beach at all when tides come in. I cannot fathom SoWal looking like this area.
I also cannot imagine the grief of owning ocean front property that would be destroyed with more wave action. However, it is a beach, and man cannot prevent nature. No matter how hard he tries. Just my 2 cents.
Having been to St Simmons Island, one of the major drawbacks was the horrible retaining walls. No beach at all when tides come in. I cannot fathom SoWal looking like this area.
I also cannot imagine the grief of owning ocean front property that would be destroyed with more wave action. However, it is a beach, and man cannot prevent nature. No matter how hard he tries. Just my 2 cents.