Engineering

Queensland, Australia - While meeting in a boardroom may be considered more official, it made sense for several North Shore Boardriders Club members and Sunshine Coast Council staff to connect on the sands of Maroochydore Beach.

The Town Commission and interested parties took in a presentation on what will be a completed plan in October.

In 2019, the city will be constructing an artificial reef as part of the Palm Beach Shoreline Project.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Although not even officially summer, the city of Virginia Beach and Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are already preparing for winter.

'The bottleneck is labour, has been for years. But it's much worse now than it's ever been'

ORLEANS, MASSACHUTES -- Orleans officials still hope Eastham will see the light, as they see it, and permit dredging behind the northern tip of the Nauset barrier beach, enabling ships to once again sail unfettered into the Atlantic.

HORN ISLAND, Miss. (WLOX) - Sunday marked 80 days that the Bonnet Carré Spillway has been open so far this year. The latest opening on May 10 was the second time this year, a first in the 88-year history of the spillway. During that time, trillions of gallons of fresh water from the Mississippi River has found its way into the saltwater environment of the Mississippi Sound.

Replacing and refurbishing old coastal pumps to brace for sea level rise could cost South Florida tens of millions of dollars per year over the next decade.

CRATER ISLAND, Wisc. -- There’s a 1.5-million-ton pile of sand in Wisconsin that should be in Louisiana.

SAGAMORE BEACH — Owners of four houses in the Sagamore Highlands are trying for a second time to slow the cliff erosion that threatens their homes.

City planning for one-metre sea level rise by 2100 amid human-caused climate change

Beach renourishment is almost complete in the Historic District area, with only a few odds and ends to tie up for a few days. Work on the south end is scheduled to begin this weekend.

The town of Pawleys Island will seek to change state law in order to raise money for beach renourishment through a property tax. Town Council this week hired a law firm to draft the measure. It will have to decide whether it wants to champion a bill itself or hire a lobbyist.

CRATER ISLAND, Wis. — There’s a 1.5-million-ton pile of sand in Wisconsin that should be in Louisiana.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — In early July 2014, the Mississippi flooded downtown Davenport, turning its minor league baseball stadium into an island. It happened at a particularly bad time: just before a three-game Independence Day weekend series against upriver rivals from Wisconsin.

Surfrider Beach in Malibu has a new closeout section in the middle of First Point. Waves also now kiss the lifeguard stand at high tide, forcing the tower back further and further on the now-disappearing beach.

WEST PALM BEACH — A 10-year program to prepare for sea level rise could cost the South Florida Water Management District more than $1 billion.

Climate change is leading to increasingly violent storms. Can sea walls hold back the floodwaters?

Miami is often seen as ground zero for the challenges climate change can create for a city. But that isn’t the only significant issue the region is facing.

BHUBANESWAR, INDIA: With the climate changing alarmingly across the world, environmentalists here have expressed concern about the state’s coastline that is getting eroded due to the global rise in sea levels.

FLORIDA - Collier County commissioners on Tuesday gave the green light to a $5.5 million beach renourishment project that will send sand-hauling trucks to three beaches starting this fall.

Problems with a pipe feeding sand from offshore mean there’s been a shift in operations on the Nags Head beach renourishment project.

Shoreline Foundations Inc. began placing 8-by-12-foot rectangular reef segments about a quarter-mile offshore of Indialantic this month.They are finishing the last 15 percent of a $10.6 million artificial reef that must be installed before dredges can pump sand on Satellite Beach and Indian Harbour Beach, beginning late this year. That $15 million project is expected to bring 275,000 cubic yards of new sand to those two beaches.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers usually waits until the spring floods have receded before dredging. This year, it’s making an exception.

Gov. Phil Bryant says he has requested that the federal government declare a fisheries disaster in Mississippi as mortality rates climb in the Mississippi Sound for dolphins, oysters and other marine life exposed to fresh water from the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway.

Last month Indonesia made a stunning announcement that it will relocate its capital from low-lying Jakarta, a city vulnerable to flooding due to sinking land and rising seas. This could be a wake-up call for the world's major coastal cities.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia and South Carolina coasts have taken a beating from tropical systems over the past few hurricane seasons.

Liste4n to audio in article link below: "Dr. Robert Weaver, Assoc Professor of Ocean Engineering and Director of the IRL Research Institute and Dr. Kelli Hunsucker, Asst Professor of Oceanography and Outreach Coordinator of the IRLRL talk about the upcoming summer camp for kids."

Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were in Wachapreague on Tuesday to answer questions and solicit comments from the public about a proposal to use dredge spoils to build up nearby marshland.

Work to restore two barrier islands and one barrier headland in the Terrebonne Basin is expected to begin in 2020.

The Missouri Dept. of Transportation didn’t even have time to fully assess the damage to its roads and bridges from late winter flooding before the next round hit.

A pair of dredges are now working on Nags Head’s $42.7 million beach renourishment project on opposite ends of town, which is currently projected to be completed around Labor Day.

As greater Houston seeks protection from the next Hurricane Harvey, using natural features like prairies and sand dunes to control water is gaining purchase.

Harnessing wave energy to build rather than destroy

We are keeping our eye on this important management decision

When Kathleen Billings was a kid, she could count on high tide falling several feet short of topping the causeway between Deer and Little Deer islands.

Key Biscayne is working with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to reverse a negative decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about long-term renourishment of island beaches, officials said.

Communities in the Greater Miami area banded together to create a regional resilience strategy, Resilient305. The effort is a collaboration between the cities of Miami and Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County (comprised of 34 cities), The Miami Foundation and 100 Resilient Cities.

MORGANZA, La. (WAFB) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will officially open the Morganza Control Structure and Floodway June 2.

FORT MYERS, FL – From a childhood spent building sand castles to adolescent walks on the beach to adults enjoying family time, America’s beaches are synonymous with celebrating summer. With the beginning of the summer beach season a few days away, the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) today released its much-anticipated annual list of the nation’s best restored beaches.

Louisiana crews drive 110-foot poles into the Bayou Chene channel bottom as they prepare to sink a barge as a flood-control mechanism. State and federal officials are battling historic flooding.

Up to 50 billion tonnes are excavated annually for use in road-building to water purification

Nags Head’s $42.7 million beach renourishment project moved into its next phase as contractors started pumping and moving sand along the northern end of town. But work off South Nags Head has ground to a halt temporarily.

Pembrokeshire, Wales - One of Britain's most popular beaches is losing its sand as it's steadily being washed away by the sea. As a result, power cables and other hazards are now exposed, leaving families who visit in danger.

‘Living shoreline’ aims to boost habitat, improve access

Protecting Galveston and the City of Houston will not be cheap. The debate over the best approach continues. ASPN has two great interviews on the topic: (1) Dr. Kelly Burks-Copes, USACE Project Leader for the Coastal Spin Proposal, and (2) Jim Blackburn, Co-Founder of the SSPEED Center at Rice University, on the Mid-Bay Option. The podcast links are at the bottom of the Editorial.

Tobago needs $70 million to repair their coastlines because of coastal erosion.

City launches $50,000 ad campaign to promote summer season

The ongoing deepening of the Charleston Harbor isn’t just letting bigger container ships into port: The work will also allow more salt water to creep up the Ashley and Cooper rivers.

A stretch of southbound Highway 1 on the Sonoma Coast at risk of failure from coastal erosion for two decades has finally been abandoned — the cracked and sagging western-most lane shut down for good last week.

Van Oord, an international contractor specializing in dredging, marine engineering and offshore projects, presented a white paper on Accelerating Climate Initiatives today.

Stone Harbor Point, at the southern tip of the island, is a natural conservation area popular among bird watchers and nature lovers. It was greatly expanded by sand washing south from replenished beaches in Stone Harbor and Avalon, using sand dredged from Hereford Inlet before 2016. Tuesday June 13, 2018.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Virginia Beach Oceanfront is getting some renourishment.

Delray Beach, Florida moves forward with beach renourishment.

The $42.7 million Nags Head beach renourishment project is moving steadily forward thanks to good weather, and with a bit of good luck could be finished well before the end of the summer season.

DARE COUNTY, North Carolina - After a long history of false starts and dashed hopes in the quest to ensure the navigability of Dare County’s Oregon and Hatteras inlets, real progress seems at hand.

In March, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District awarded a $4.4 million contract to Environmental Tracing, LLC for a Sediment Morphodynamic Assessment Project to examine sediment transport in southeast Florida over the next two years.

A proposal for a regional response to erosion partially caused by sea level rise (SLR) in Hawaii was introduced to the public on March 8 in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement Preparation Notice (EISPN) “Kahana Bay Erosion Mitigation Project Lahaina District, Island of Maui” with a 30-day public response period.

Costs for Marina del Rey redevelopment enterprise, which requires a few finishing touches, inches closer to $6 million.

New York City -- A proposed Brooklyn Bridge Beach, for which the City’s Economic Development Corporation has accepted $12 million in funding, is still possible. The organization later ruled the project unsafe and announced its desire to spend the money on other proposals, but more recently indicated that it may be willing to implement a version of the plan.

The centuries-long Age of Sail met an abrupt end with the advent of the engine, the fuel for which has long been cheap, abundant, and, until recently, perceived as consequence free. Diesel has since ruled the ocean and global shipping.

It is hoped that for firms with an interest in the water sector, the Water Campus will be a magnet for innovation and private-sector investment.

High water has flooded docks, wrecked breakwalls, may discourage summer tourism

In the wake of hurricanes like Florence, the U.S. government pays to dump truckloads of sand onto eroding beaches, in a cycle that is said to harm ecosystems and disproportionately benefit the rich.

OGDEN DUNES, INDIANA - The Region lost out on $800,000 in sorely needed funding for an Army Corps of Engineers study on beach erosion, Executive Director of Indiana Dunes Tourism Lorelei Weimer told the Tourism Board at its meeting yesterday.

KITTY HAWK, N.C. (WAVY) - Bigger dunes, sand fences and vegetation are all part of keeping the beach, and NC Highway 12 in Kitty Hawk near the Black Pelican, from washing away, again.

Dune restoration project reaches closeout with 300,000 new plants installed

Gov. Henry McMaster has vetoed a bill that would have given a gated beach community special permission to rebuild a sea wall erected before the state banned them.

The map above shows the plan for using BP oil spill money to rebuild North Breton Island. On the right, the area in green is the 53 acres that would be slightly elevated and widened to provide brown pelican habitat with the $8.6 million from Hess Corp.

The grant is part of a $20 million package announced last week for 22 projects in 11 coastal states.

Launching a major, long-term strategy to tackle flooding and coastal change, Environment Agency Chair, Emma Howard Boyd has said ‘we cannot win a war against water’ by building higher flood defences and called for a new approach to ensure communities are resilient to the threat of flooding posed by climate change.

New York City has lagged in implementing resiliency projects to protect coastal areas from rising sea levels and the threat of another superstorm, Comptroller Scott Stringer says in a new report. As of this past March 31, the city had spent only 54% of the $14.7 billion in federal funds allocated after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the report says.

North Carolina can’t seem to stop promoting risky development on our fragile barrier islands.

In a typically cryptic announcement on its website, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced an important opportunity now open to potential non-federal sponsors. Report to Congress on Future Water Resources Development:

The UK will need to spend £1 billion a year on flood management to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, according to the national Environment Agency. The organisation’s chair, Emma Boyd, said “we can’t win a war against water by building away climate change with infinitely high flood defences”, and warned that entire communities may need to change location due to flood risk.

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a new methodology for building computer models that paves the way to better understanding the flood risks faced by coastal communities.

The plan unveiled last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the Bolivar Peninsula from storm surge should have been the one proposed in December. But this is a case of better late than never, and Bolivar residents are undoubtedly relieved to see this logical proposal finally coming forward. It would rely on natural sand dunes to absorb the energy of a surge instead of wall running the partial length of the peninsula.

HOUSTON/GALVESTON - Sand dunes, not 70 miles of levees and gates, would flank flood gates at the mouth of Galveston Bay under a new plan the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying to protect the Houston-Galveston region from storm surge.

California Coastal Commission members will be discussing Poseidon Water’s mitigation obligations, which were set in place to allow the Carlsbad desalination plant to move forward, at the upcoming May meetings in Oxnard.

New Zealand - Residents in a small Golden Bay settlement fear their properties are one big storm away from being swallowed by the sea after their bid to build a seawall on public land was rejected.

England must prepare for global warming of up to 4 degrees Celsius (39.2°F) that threatens to put millions of households at risk of devastating flooding, a public body warned on Thursday.

What will be the environmental impacts of structural storm surge protection methods in New Jersey’s back bays?

ISLAMORADA — Dredging barges stood ready to begin work to remove Hurricane Irma sediment from a clogged Lower Matecumbe Key canal last week, but were idled by the lack of a federal permit.

Steelhead trout numbers are growing on the Carmel River, a potential model for other dam removal projects nationwide

NORWALK — In the less than three months Anthony Carr has been on the job as the city’s chief of public works and operations, one main issue has taken center stage — flooding.

The Environment Agency’s Lincolnshire Beach Management scheme gets underway on 13 May, helping the Environment Agency manage coastal flood risk to around 20,000 homes and businesses, 24,500 static caravans, 35,000 hectares of land as well as a bustling tourist industry.

Three-quarters of the coastal beaches and marshes from North Carolina to central Florida face a very high risk of erosion by 2030, according to a new study.

Massive flood gates being considered for the mouth of the Great Egg Harbor Inlet (southern New Jersey) would likely impact the ecosystem of a protected river that runs through the Pinelands, the National Park Service has warned.

The Nukupure Park coastline is at risk of increased erosion. This was revealed in the April 2019 assessment report of the Nukupure Park foreshore projects of beach nourishment, dune planting and toa prepared by Andy Kirkwood and Justine Flanagan for Ngati Teaia; landowners of the area.

Sea-Level Rise isn’t the Only Factor in Bay Area’s Future Flooding Risk

This is the second installment in a special reporting series on coastal resiliency. Read Part 1. As Category 4 Hurricane Florence plowed toward the North Carolina coast last September, an all-hands weather code red reverberated throughout the eastern part of the state.

Massachusetts - A whole new landscape greets the walker along the Duxbury Beach road out to Gurnet.

Ocean waves and storms have been getting stronger over the past 30 years, which has implications for coastal and offshore infrastructure.

Communities along Lake Ontario’s southern and eastern shores are continuing in a “worst-case scenario” mode this week, piling up sandbags and taking other preventative measures in anticipation of flooding that could come as early as this weekend.

Indonesia made a stunning announcement this week that it will relocate its capital from Jakarta. The decision validates decades of warnings about the city’s catastrophic flood risk due to sinking land and rising seas. While Jakarta is especially vulnerable to the threat of rising seas, it serves as a profound wake-up call for hundreds of major cities, Washington included.

KURE BEACH, North Carolina - Beach renourishment in Kure Beach was completed April 29th. The project began earlier this year to pump sand on the beach front in Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. Crews working for Weeks Marine, Incorporated completed the $21-million project. The Carolina Beach portion was completed earlier this year.