ASBPA has issued a news release discussing the impacts of the sequester on the coast. Follow this link to the ASBPA website to read the release.

ACEC-SC President, Jerry Carter, presented the award on 5 February 2013 to representatives of the project team: Dr Haiqing Kaczkowski PE, project engineer; Dr. Tim Kana, president of CSE; and Steven Traynum, assistant project manager.  Funding for the $35 million project was 100 percent local sources under the auspices of the Town of Nags Head.

Engineering Excellence is an annual competition sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and its member organizations.  It recognizes engineering achievements which demonstrate the highest degree of merit and ingenuity.  The ACEC-SC competition is open to all firms engaged in the practice of consulting engineering.  Projects must have been designed in the state of South Carolina with construction substantially completed between 1 November 2010 and 31 October 2012.  Projects could have been constructed anywhere in the world as long as they were designed in South Carolina.

A distinguished panel of judges was selected.  Each judge separately reviewed the projects.  Criteria for judging included original or innovative application of new or existing techniques; future value to the engineering profession and perception by the public; social, economic, and sustainable design considerations; complexity; and exceeding the needs of the owner/clients.  The Nags Head beach nourishment project and seven other entries were judged to be the best overall and were eligible to enter the national competition.

Project Executive Summary

Nags Head is located along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and has sustained chronic erosion over the past 50 years.  Coastal Science & Engineering (CSE) was hired by the Town of Nags Head in 2005 to evaluate alternatives and develop a plan for beach maintenance and property protection.  The least-cost alternative was a beach restoration project providing a minimum of ten years of sand replacement plus advance nourishment to extend the design life for the benefit of the community.

The project involved dredging 4.6 million cubic yards (cy) of sand from offshore borrow areas and placing it onto the 10-mile stretch of beach in Nags Head.  Permitting involved over five years of environmental reviews because of the need to work during fair-weather summer months in the relatively high-energy setting.  The average fill density was 86 cubic yards per foot (cy/ft) and ranged from 50 cy/ft to 170 cy/ft from north to south in relation to historical erosion rates.  The contractor (Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company) used three ocean-certified hopper dredges and one cutterhead suction dredge, constructing the project between 24 May and 27 October 2011.  The project was completed under budget, on time, and without any environmental incidents.

Nags Head beach nourishment is the first Outer Banks project and the largest locally-funded beach restoration accomplished to date in the United States.  Its funding structure, innovative design methods, successful implementation below budget with environmental protection measures, and its favorable response to the 2011 and 2012 hurricane seasons offer guidance for future projects in coastal storm protection and restoration.

Feb. 26, 2013

Contact:  Ken or Kate Gooderham, ASBPA executive directors — (239) 489-2616 or exdir@asbpa.org
Harry Simmons, ASBPA president — (910) 200-7867 or president@asbpa.org

New report spotlights coast’s value in jobs, trade and tourism

Many understand that beaches are business generators, an attractor for visitors and residents (and the businesses that follow them). But a major player in our trade balance? A stalwart source of U.S. jobs that can’t be sent overseas? A key to our country’s international competitiveness in tourism?

Yes, our coast is all that and more, according to an article in the newly published issue of “Shore & Beach.” Author James Houston, director emeritus of the Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center, has looked into the economic value of America’s beaches in the past, but this latest update of his research delves deeper into the international aspects of that economic energy.

His view is positive: “Few Americans are aware that the travel and tourism (T&T) industry is among America’s largest industries, employers and earners of foreign exchange – and beaches are its leading tourist destination.
“In an era where the availability of jobs is a major issue and their offshoring a significant concern, the T&T industry is the largest employer in the U.S. and its jobs are difficult to offshore. U.S. economic competitiveness is of concern, since it runs large trade deficits, but its largest trade surplus is in T&T, where it runs a multi-billion-dollar surplus even with China.”

After giving us the good news, Houston follows with the kicker: Our coastal economic engine won’t continue to run as strong if our coast is not maintained. “Survey after survey finds that beaches are the leading U.S. vacation destination. However, beach erosion is a major concern for many beaches. As beaches … decrease in width tourists head to other destinations, including foreign beaches.

“Beach nourishment has been shown to increase tourist numbers and provide a good return on investment, in particular to the federal government through taxes. However, the U.S. lags much of the world in the growth of tourism infrastructure investment including restoration of beaches. As a result, the growth of U.S. tourism is projected to lag much of the rest of the world.

“Renewed U.S. investment in tourism infrastructure is important to grow the economy and number of jobs and to reduce the U.S. trade imbalance.”

Houston concludes with this sobering note: “Without a paradigm shift in attitudes toward the economic significance of travel and tourism and necessary infrastructure investment to maintain and restore beaches, the U.S. will continue to relinquish a dominant worldwide lead in its most important industry.”

“Shore & Beach” is a peer-reviewed technical journal published quarterly by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. Issues are sent to members (including libraries) only, but an index of past issues is online at www.asbpa.org

BOX:

Shoreline strengths:

•  Travel & tourism accounts for one in every 10 U.S. jobs – more than all U.S. manufacturers combined
• On 2011, while the U.S. ran a trade deficit overall of $727 billion, travel & tourism resulted in a $43 billion surplus due to the international tourists drawn to this country’s numerous assets (including beaches).
• Some 85% of all the U.S. tourist-related revenues are generated by the coastal states.
• Beaches drew an estimated 2.2 billion visits in 2010 – more than twice the number of visitors to all our federal and state parks.
• One estimate is that beaches contribute about $225 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
• After Miami Beach was initially restored, the jump in tourism income was more than five times as much as the cost of the restoration project itself.
• Now, it is estimated that international tourists alone make an annual contribution to Miami Beach’s economy 50 times greater than the cost of the beach restoration.
• For every $1 the federal government spent on beach restoration in 2012, it collected an estimated $570 in beach tourist tax revenues.
• International tourists generate about $215 in tax revenues for every $1 the federal government spends on beach restoration.
• Coastal countries such as Spain, Germany and Japan (with far less coastline than the U.S>) routinely can spend more on maintaining their beaches annually than the U.S. spends on its coastlines in a decade – or more.

SOURCE: Shore & Beach journal, Vol. 81, No. 1, Winter 2013

ABOUT ASBPA: Founded in 1926, the ASBPA advocates for healthy coastlines by promoting the integration of science, policies and actions that maintain, protect and enhance the coasts of America. For more information on ASBPA, go to www.asbpa.org, Facebook or www.twitter.com/asbpa. This information is provided by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association. For information, to change your email address or to unsubscribe from this list, contact us at exdir@asbpa.org. A complete collection of Beach News Services articles is available for media access online at http://www.asbpa.org/news/newsroom_beachnews.htm.

Hunting Island’s beach in May 2012.

CSE has been assisting SC Department of Parks and Recreation since 1989 on strategies for beach preservation.  Our 2006 project (project summary) provided safe and stable swimming beaches at strategic access points while maintaining the natural character of the island.  Erosion problems remain in some areas, but the diversity of conditions and habitats in close proximity is what makes Hunting Island unique among the award winners this year.

http://www.thestate.com/2013/02/20/2642018/hunting-island-state-park-makes.html

Did you know that as a result of nourishment, many SC beaches are in better condition today than 30 years ago?  While expenditures have totaled about $350 million (in 2010 constant dollars), these projects have protected properties worth billions today.  Sustained efforts have buried seawalls and widened recreational beaches throughout the coast.  For an author’s copy of the entire article, email tkana@coastalscience.com. Better yet, consider joining ASBPA  and receive Shore & Beach, the Journal of the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association, four times a year.  The Fall 2012 Issue of S&B includes ASBPA’s position paper, Managing sea level change on shores and beaches.

A Brief History of Beach Nourishment in South Carolina

Timothy W Kana

Coastal Science & Engineering Inc

PO Box 8056, Columbia SC 29202

tkana@coastalscience.com

ABSTRACT

There were ~59 discrete beach-nourishment events along the South Carolina coast between 1954 and 2010. These projects encompassed 17 localities―62.6 miles―which is ~65 percent of the developed or accessible-park oceanfront in the state (~33.5 percent of the ocean coast). The total volume of nourishment through 2010 was ~44.1 million cubic yards (mcy) for an average fill density of 133.3 cubic yards per foot (cy/ft) of shoreline. The adjusted cost of all projects in 2010 constant dollars (2010$$) was (~)$351 million for an average unit-volume cost of $7.96/cy (2010$$). Nourishment volumes by decade peaked in the 1990s at 20.7 mcy―47 percent of the total. Between 2000 and 2010, nourishment volumes declined to ~12.7 mcy partly due to reduced need following initial restoration efforts at some sites. Six project areas (North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Garden City-Surfside Beach, Folly Beach, Hunting Island, and Hilton Head Island), comprising 42.6 miles of coast, have received about 70 percent of the nourishment volume. Most of these sites have measurably wider beachfront area compared with pre-nourishment conditions. Hilton Head Island, with five events since 1969, has received 10.6 mcy. Three sites (Debidue Beach, Folly spit, and Hunting Island), comprising ~7 percent of the nourished shoreline in South Carolina, have not kept pace with erosion and have lost beachfront area. The volume and cost of nourishment applied over project lengths and time periods yield South Carolina expenditures averaging (~)$39 per foot of shoreline per year (2010$$) [range (~)$7–$107/ft/yr]. The present value of developed oceanfront shoreline in South Carolina is roughly in the range $5,000 to $50,000 per linear foot. Thus, annualized expenditures for areas nourished have averaged well under 1 percent of property values.