A Nor’easter with high tides can wreak havoc in Margate and Ventnor. Coastal storms often cause significant erosion of our beaches.
Do beach replenishments work, or are they just an expensive band-aid?
David Rosenblatt is the Asst Commissioner of NJ DEP, Dept of Environment Protection. He says YES, they work. Environmentalists disagree.
Most recently, coastal areas like Long Beach Island, Atlantic City, Bayhead and North Wildwood were hammered by rough surf. Beaches in North Brigantine and in front of Ocean & Hard Rock Casinos also experienced brutal erosion of sand.
Some point the finger at climate change and rising sea levels. Other claim it’s foolish to build so close to the water.
What about those man-made dunes? Some almost 20 ft high in some places.
Inconvenient truth: Most flood damage comes from back back surge. Even Congressman Frank Lobiondo agrees.
WATCH VIDEO from 2017 >
What I don’t understand is why they don’t set a bed of rip rap in gabion baskets into the beach and dunes and then put a thin layer of sand on top. While the coating may wash away in a severe storm, the majority of the material would remain.
As the sand naturally sifted into the rip rap, it would create a stronger wall of protection than straight sand and the amount of dredging would be reduced by 80% or more.
So, even though the initial cost would be more in the long run, dredging would be needed less and the overall cost savings would outweigh the initial cost. Just saying…
Take a ride to Bay Head New Jersey……….they only have a 26 foot drop…………
From my understanding, the company that was granted the contract by the Federal Government to “replenish” the beach is owned by former U.S. Generals.
Given that Margate did not flood from the Ocean side, even during Sandy, why was this contract ever granted?
Further, what do we think happens to all the wildlife on the beach when we dump tons of dredged sand on top of where they live?
After 35 years as a ‘part-time’ (4-5 months) resident. I sold my condo and haven’t looked back. The outrageous water bills, taxes, no concern for part-timers, beach dunes, miniature golf course, overpriced restaurants, etc, etc, etc.
Maybe all the ‘part-time’ residents should get out and leave the permanent residents with the huge bills.
Bye-bye Margate….it was fun while it lasted.
Great ! More seats at those restaurants for everyone else. Take your whining on down the road, somehow the rest of us and the town will carry on without you.
Wow, you really ignorant and stupid! Without the part time residents, your taxes would explode, costs would skyrocket and those bland overpriced restaurants would go out of business. Wake up!
Try actually reading, genius. My comment had nothing to do with part time residents and taxes whatsoever. It was simply based on Steve’s whining and then coming back to a web site to complain about a place he’s left. Sorry if the big words made it hard for you to comprehend.
Over the course of the next century or two the sea will rise relentlessly with some coastal geologists predicting the submerging of most barrier islands and beaches along the East and Gulf coasts.
In light of this situation beach replenishment looks increasingly like an expensive band-aid solution that is unsustainable for both monetary and geological reasons. It’s essentially a superficial fix that does nothing to solve the real underlying problems causing it to be used in the first place.
It’s like a Dr. treating the symptoms of a disease not the disease itself.
Margate and Ventnor never required beach replenishment until the DEP and Corps of Engineers designed and produced these beautiful dunes and wider beaches, now subject to continued wave damage and erosion.
Margate beaches never needed the extravagant, unsightly, expensive and dangerous outfall pipes (which other communities are trying to get rid of) until the brilliant planning of the dune project. (Where were their hydraulic engineers?).
Where does this eroded sand go? In and out as told to us by authorities or with the general flow from North to South clogging inlets and ending up in Wildwood.
In any case now the Corps of Engineers has additional ongoing replenishment projects to perpetuate their flow of federal dollars coming in and the taxpayers are hit again.