Engineering

Beach nourishment is another chapter in the never-ending tale of erosion.

BALTIMORE – Crews will begin removing approximately 2 million cubic yards of material today from shipping channels leading to the Port of Baltimore as part of a contract managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District.

Policies to conserve and enhance beaches, public access, and coastal open space are failing in Hawaiʻi according to a recently published study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

As has been well documented by now, the Trump administration released one of the most significant reports about climate change in recent memory on a day when few people were paying attention to anything important—the day after Thanksgiving.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH – New boundaries and rules governing development at about half of North Carolina’s inlets may be adopted next year. Currently a little more than 2,800 acres of land is designated within inlet hazard areas, or IHA, boundaries at 10 of the 19 active inlets in the state.

Work began this week on the largest beach renourishment project in the Port Canaveral area of the five that have occurred since 1995.

CAROLINA BEACH - Hurricane Florence eroded the beach front in Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. A project was already scheduled in the spring of 2019 to pump sand onto the beach front.

LAHAINA — With sea levels expected to rise by more than 3 feet by the next century, developing and implementing strategies to deal with the problem, which could include moving developments away from the shoreline, will include much discussion, money and difficult decisions, experts said Friday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to renourish the shore along Crescent Beach and may start pumping sand onto the beach this week, according to a Monday news release from the City of North Myrtle Beach.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District awarded a $7.86 million contract on December 6 to Eastman Aggregate Enterprises, LLC of Lake Worth, Florida, for Contract A of the Broward County Segment III Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Beach Erosion Control Project 2018.

Recent extreme weather — hurricanes Harvey and Florence — caused widespread toxic contamination of floodwaters after low-lying chemical plants, coal ash storage facilities and hog waste lagoons were inundated.

Coastal erosion and more intense winter storms may require policymakers to take another look at how they plan for future development. A new Oregon State University study, based in Tillamook County, examined how beach access and property would be impacted by sea level rise and coastal erosion if planning policies stayed the same.

The impact of climate change on Scotland’s most flood prone communities is projected to place more than 169,000 homes and businesses at risk of flooding by 2080.

Floods leave too much behind. That’s how Sherry Henderson described life in Pollocksville about 40 days after Hurricane Florence. The future will bring growing uncertainty for riverside and coastal communities, in Pollocksville and beyond. Epic rainfall and massive storm surge will only intensify with climate change.

Johnny Bradberry is leaving his positions in state government as the governor’s executive assistant of coastal activities and chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to become president of Baton Rouge-based engineering firm GEC, Inc.

A mismatch between the growing climate crises and underinvestment in mitigation solutions such as renewable energy means more investment will be needed to boost the resilience of agriculture, put up seawalls and sure up water supplies.

After removing some of the optional jobs, such as grooming freshly renourished beaches, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $3.3-million contract to Southwind Construction Co. for work on area waterways.

While construction is still years away, a proposal to streamline shipping traffic through the Port of Dutch Harbor has cleared several early hurdles. In 2018, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished a two-year feasibility study, recommended a dredging project, and won initial approval from the Unalaska City Council.

Dallas - The cost to curtail damaging flooding across Texas over the next 10 years is more than $31.5 billion and state officials are urging lawmakers to adopt legislation meant to end a cycle of "repairing and rebuilding," according to a series of recommendations released Thursday.

Work began this week on the largest beach renourishment project in the Port Canaveral area of the five that have occurred since 1995. The project — formally known as Phase V of the Canaveral Harbor Federal Sand Bypass Project — will move about 1.34 million cubic yards of sand to replenish 3.5 miles of beach south of Port Canaveral. Norfolk Dredging Co., a Chesapeake, VA based provider of hydraulic and clamshell dredging services, won the $18 million contract.

Recently sworn-in St. Johns County District 4 Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker addressed the Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition at its December meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, discussing a few of the key issues he plans on targeting while serving in office. This includes his support of a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) to support beach renourishment, and allocating tourism money back into Ponte Vedra.

Hurricane Florence came ashore in North Carolina on September 15 disrupting lives and turning parts of the Carolinas into inaccessible islands. With dredging projects underway in areas from South Carolina to New York, contractors had to make decisions on if and when to pack it up and head to safety.

New funding opens door to restart stalled 50-year project. The estimated cost of the project is projected to be $98,798,000 over its 50-year life, $52,023,000 is expected to be funded by the federal government.

At the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers, a winter of heavy rains could inundate about 1,200 acres of riverside woodland for the first time in 60 years. That’s by design: Here, a few miles west of Modesto, work crews removed or broke several miles of levee last spring and replanted the land with tens of thousands of native sapling trees and shrubs.

WAIKIKI (HawaiiNewsNow) - With beach erosion a growing problem, experts have been closely watching a Waikiki Beach mediation project — and so far the results are positive. A year ago, crews installed a 100-by-12 foot sand-filled mattress as an emergency measure to stabilize the shoreline.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH – Getting permission to dump sand in federally maintained dredged material disposal areas may not be entirely impossible, but a nationwide policy heavily restricts access for North Carolina coastal municipalities and businesses that have long relied on the sites.

A hamlet study backs a recommendation to enact a "strategic retreat" of downtown businesses inland to combat the threat, but East Hampton Town is mulling a $15 million to $17 million beach restoration project.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - The city of North Myrtle Beach announced the beach renourishment project scheduled for the area may begin work as early as this week, weather permitting.

Those questioning when improvements will be made in regard to the Lee County Shoreline Protection Project will have to wait a bit longer before any progress is being made.

Channel Islands and Ventura harbors and the Port of Hueneme are set to receive $14.8 million in federal funding.

The damage caused Friday, Nov. 30 was the worst yet in the area plagued by battering seas. Earlier this summer, fire rings that have been used for sunset bonfire rituals for decades crumbled after being battered by storms.

Weeks Marine Inc., a Covington, LA, based maritime construction company, has won a $17.4 million contract for two dredging projects in North Carolina.

A hamlet study backs a recommendation to enact a "strategic retreat" of downtown businesses inland to combat the threat, but East Hampton Town is mulling a $15M-$17M beach restoration project.

Mayor Doug Medlin recently posted a letter to the town's website telling residents that the delayed beach renourishment project was caused by FEMA not assigning an agent to the project. He said the town now hopes to have it completed by February.

PLEASURE ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — Following two devastating hurricanes in the past two years, the Cape Fear coast has taken a beating. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Wilmington announced Friday beaches on Pleasure Island will undergo renourishment this winter.

More than two years after Hurricane Matthew chopped up the south end of State Road A1A in Flagler Beach, requiring makeshift repairs to keep the road driveable, the state Department of Transportation this week executed a $22.4 million contract with Jacksonville-based Superior Construction Company Southeast to start construction on permanent repairs of the road in three segments starting on Jan. 4. (Transportation officials in November 2018 had projected a start date last summer.)

A multi-million Euro plan to tackle the urgent problem of coastal erosion in Rosslare, in order to save buildings, land and infrastructure, was outlined to councillors and members of the public at separate meetings in Wexford and Rosslare.

A 1,000-page climate assessment produced by 300 scientists and released by the federal government late last month provided a bleak outlook for Florida over the next 50 to 100 years. The report predicts an increase in powerful hurricanes, more disease-carrying mosquitoes, more heat waves and rising sea levels around the state.

A barrier of small rocks and driftwood could hold the key to saving a coastal community and cranberry farms.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Nearly $300 million in additional state spending to address North Carolina's recovery from Hurricane Florence has received quick and unanimous approval from the legislature. The House voted Thursday to send the relief measure to Gov. Roy Cooper, who is expected to sign it into law. The Senate approved the bill Wednesday, also with no votes in opposition.

The funding will supplement an already-approved $65 million budget.

TAWAS CITY – The Michigan Coastal Zone Management Program will focus efforts on areas of eastern Michigan along Lake Huron, according Commissioner Donald Jay O’Farrell.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — By a preliminary scan, Hurricane Michael is thought to have siphoned off between 1 million and 2 million cubic yards of sand from Panama City Beach’s shores. That’s about the carrying capacity of 60,000 to 130,000 dump trucks.

A project to deepen and improve the Sabine Neches Waterway Channel has an anticipated start date for construction, more than two decades after planning began.

Ocean Shores, like most of Washington state’s coast, will be prone to a tsunami when an earthquake strikes off the Strait of Juan de Fuca – or even a distant tsunami like Japan or Alaska. But getting to high ground is going to take a hefty walk for many residents. And, for a city that boasts a lot of retired residents, the concern is real.

South Carolina is no stranger to hurricanes and each one takes its toll on shorelines and beach communities located here and across the Atlantic coastal region. After each significant storm, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel assess erosion impacts, work hand-in-hand with state and local partners to determine mitigation measures for erosion damage to shoreline projects and take authorized measures to rehabilitate effected areas.

When hurricanes hit Texas, the effects ripple out across the country because the state accounts for about 30 percent of total U.S. refining capacity, with most of the refineries located on the Gulf Coast. And millions of tons of cargo pass through Houston’s port each year.

On November 7, the world’s largest dredger ship, Athena, completed its large-scale works at Anaklia Port. A record-breaking amount of sand was pumped from the seabed. At this stage, the marine works of Anaklia Port are almost finished.

Environment Agency Chair, Emma Howard Boyd is calling on businesses and communities to prepare as latest UK climate change projections are published.

Hampton-Seabrook Harbor is one step closer to an emergency dredging project..

Western Dredging Association’s partner Texas A&M University will be holding their 48th Dredging Engineering Short Course from January 7th through 11th, 2019.

UK - A Norfolk village disappearing into the sea has been named as on the national frontline in the fight against the devastating effects of climate change.

More than 30 new oyster reefs will be built in the Pensacola region beginning this summer thanks to additional restitution funding related to the massive 2010 BP Gulf Coast oil spill.

Urged by President Xi Jinping to dare to do something that has never been done before, scientists say challenges could give China huge technology lead

EMERALD ISLE — Carteret County received only one bid for a major beach nourishment project planned for this winter, and will have to wait a couple weeks to see if another comes in before officials can consider awarding a contract.

The Town of North Topsail Beach, NC and the Topsail Island Shoreline Protection Commission thank the citizens who contributed to the photo gallery of the oceanfront dunes both before and after Hurricane Florence. A side-by-side comparison of before/after dune photos has been compiled.

SARASOTA, FL (WWSB) - Lido beachgoers now have another attraction to take in the next few months. 185,000 cubic yards of sand is being pumped in to fix the major erosion that has plagued the Sarasota beach. The sand is being dredged from New Pass and big machinery is helping to put the sand in it’s place.

SHALIMAR — By early next year, Okaloosa County officials could receive close to $1 million in RESTORE Act money that would benefit the Niceville Landing project and stormwater infrastructure by the Cinco Bayou body of water, according to county Grants and RESTORE Manager Jane Evans.

Alaska - Shishmaref is the only town on Sarichef Island. And everywhere you go, you can see the waves and hear the constant roar of the ocean. The island is only about a quarter of a mile wide — and it's getting smaller.

REED'S BEACH - "Build it and they will come" worked for Kevin Costner's character in "Field of Dreams." It appears to be working on the Delaware Bay where reefs built as part of Superstorm Sandy ecosystem restoration are attracting horseshoe crabs, Red Knots, oysters and other marine life.

BRICK, NJ – Few things are worse for boaters than hearing the sickening thump and scrape after unexpectedly hitting bottom, and many boaters have reported damage to their boats in areas when shoaling has occurred. That won’t be a problem for much longer in township channels, because for the first time in decades, the NJ Department of Maritime Resources is dredging the navigable channels, which is the transportation network for boats.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has delivered its Fiscal Year 2019 Work Plan for the Army Civil Works program to Congress.

The storm hammered Pender County’s beaches, but officials say the recovery is already well underway. In all likelihood, tourism at Topsail Beach and Surf City will not be as robust next spring and summer as has been the case in past years. But Topsail Beach Town Manager Michael Rose said it’s not going to be a bust, either.

AUSTIN – A Plan to reduce risks and increase resilience of the Texas coast moves forward with selected options.

The much needed dredging for the Depoe Bay Harbor will likely soon become a reality. Depoe Bay has been allocated nearly $900,000 for the project.

Army Corps needs about 70 easements

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. - If you plan to take your out-of-town relatives to the beach this Thanksgiving weekend, be prepared to see some heavy equipment in Jacksonville Beach. Tractors, pipes, dumpsters and boats are all being used in a renourishment project that is currently underway from the Beach Boulevard beach access north to the pier.

EGMONT KEY – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is supplying the weapons in the only battle Fort Dade has ever seen – the one against erosion. Historic Egmont Key is slated to receive sand to shore up what’s left of the 1899 fort when the Tampa Bay shipping channel is dredged for maintenance beginning this month. The $10 million project should take about five months to complete.

On a day of change on the St. Johns County Commission, the biggest issue Tuesday was what to do in order to combat the alterations wrought by nature on the county’s north beaches.

SUISUN CITY — The Suisun City Council on Tuesday awarded The Dutra Group a contract to dredge the Suisun City Marina and Whispering Bay – after a year’s delay.

Beach nourishment and utility easements create controversy.

Jefferson Parish will spend $400,000 to design and engineer wetlands along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain from the Bonnabel Boat Launch to Bucktown.

Today, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards with Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority announced an award of $161.4 million from The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund to fund Louisiana projects that support restoration of the Terrebonne Basin barrier island system: West Belle Headland, Timbalier Island and Trinity Island.

William P. Doyle, CEO & Executive Director of Dredging Contractors of America (DCA), says the industry is going to thrive, and he intents to ensure the Jones Act continues to do the same.

On Monday, Governor Kay Ivey announced that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has approved over $48 million for eight new restoration and conservation projects in Alabama.

Manson Construction crews have begun staging equipment for the upcoming Nassau County project at Fernandina Beach.

A century's worth of bad environmental practices by local industries is slated for dredging out of the "Old Channel" around Zug Island, in a more than $50-million federal project to improve long-standing pollution problems on the Rouge River.

Following a couple of years of significant hurricane-related damage, the St. Johns County administration has received permission to hire someone who will be the expert and advocate for local beaches.

Residents oppose seawalls; other options considered for Lower Honoapiilani Road NAPILI — Maui County Public Works officials are mulling long-term shoreline repair solutions for a 30-foot section of Lower Honoapiilani Road, which is in danger of collapsing and shutting down utilities for nearby residents if another major storm were to hit.

Beaches are generally the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Florida. That’s certainly the case with Dympna Duddy who lives in Ireland. “I can’t speak enough about,” said Duddy as she looks out at Bathtub Reef Beach in Stuart. “Florida depends so much on tourists who come from all over the world.”

The town has tried unsuccessfully to stem erosion at the tip of Red River Beach using beach nourishment, sand bags and plantings, and is once again seeking to extend the jetty landward.

County to press for state takeover of County Road 370 Hurricane Michael’s further destruction of Alligator Point’s lone access road, already suffering from damage wrought by Hurricane Hermine two years ago, is prompting county officials to redouble their effort to have the state retake ownership of the road.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers disputes the contention made by Rice University researchers that the Corps used out-of-date storm and modeling information in its preference for a 70-mile coastal barrier known as the Ike Dike.

Ocean Shores, Washington plans to apply for federal funding by Nov. 30 — with the backing of the state — to build the city’s first vertical-evacuation structure designed to save lives in the event of event of a coastal tsunami.

Hurricane Michael disrupted much of local life, including a proposed restoration project for the beaches of St. Joseph Peninsula. The long-awaited restoration project was set to begin on Oct. 8, two days before Michael roared ashore along the Forgotten Coast, delaying yet again a project that was deemed pressing more than two years ago.

While contemporary vessels lack the open hatch grates of 19th century sailing ships, boaters still know what it means to “batten down the hatches” in preparation for a storm. Eliminating or minimizing vulnerabilities before rough conditions hit is also becoming an essential consideration for marina owners and operators. Coastal and shoreline areas occupy ground zero for a broad range of climate change impacts, exposing a widening number of hatches that will need to be battened down or rebuilt in the years ahead.

A private landowner donated their property to Folly Beach on Tuesday, but the land won’t be used as a public park or green space — it’s underwater. And the parcel, legally designated as 501 W. Atlantic Ave., has been so ravaged by erosion that it’s named for a street that no longer exists.

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Coastal engineers are in Bay County this week surveying the beach to determine how much sand was lost during Hurricane Michael. Tuesday, tourism officials spoke about the erosion and how a recent beach renourishment project essentially saved the city. Many people have been comparing the storm surge and flooding of Hurricane Michael to Hurricane Opal. However, a beach renourishment project had not been done before Opal, allowing water from the Gulf to pour into nearby properties and roads.

The 5.5-mile stretch of permafrost coastline at Drew Point is losing 30 football fields of land per year.

To reduce future flood damage in Houston, we need vision, excellent information, and action. When these three elements are combined, we will have a solid, functional plan. Without all three elements, we will fall short of the Houston that all of the city’s residents want and deserve

A new aquarium. Studies in the use of underwater and aerial drones. A Jackson County connector road. These are among 10 projects to get funding from nearly $40 million allotted the Mississippi Coast under the federal RESTORE Act, officials said Tuesday. The money, which comes from civil penalties imposed after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, brings to nearly $508 million the amount of money set aside for restoration projects, said Gary Rikard, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

FOLLY BEACH — Two tropical storms this season arrived in such quick succession that local officials may not even try to figure out how much sand Tropical Storm Michael blew away. The city’s renourishment project, ongoing since the spring, already had been extended after Hurricane Florence. That storm swept 200,000 cubic yards of sand off the beach in the midst of a project to pump material out of the Folly River and back onto the beach, particularly the city’s vulnerable east end.

Hampton Roads is getting more than $3.7 million in federal grants for projects to strengthen coastlines against the impacts of storms and sea level rise. The grants to the James River Association, the city of Norfolk and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will go to build living shorelines in Hampton and Norfolk and bolster the resiliency of Virginia’s barrier islands.

The sea wall of an island off the coast of Suffolk is being lowered by almost half a metre to prevent it flooding in stormy weather.

Construction of a new Oregon State University research vessel that will advance the science of coastal environments, and support research on topics such as ocean acidification, hypoxia, and sea level rise, officially began yesterday in Louisiana.

A group of Rice professors are, however, among a handful of political, engineering and environmental experts who plan to raise significant questions about the proposed barrier during the project’s public comment period.

The dredging that began Oct. 17 at the Oceanside Harbor has been extended by about two weeks to get more sand, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday.

For the last hundred years, protecting neighborhoods has often meant relying on sea walls — large, concrete barriers designed to withstand strong waves and rising waters. Beyond not being particularly attractive, they are expensive, can cause erosion and harm marine life.

Many Shore residents and homeowners have wondered how the barrier island’s newly-replenished beaches would handle a nor’easter – would the sand stick around or be washed out to sea?

The U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has recommended its preferred method for protecting parts of the Texas Gulf Coast from storm surges and flooding