Sand search yields beach source
STEPHEN REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
Town Manager Bruce St. Denis informed commissioners in a letter this week that the sand source had been found for the 2011-2012 beach renourishment project.
Originally, St. Denis indicated that the town’s engineering firm, Coastal Planning and Engineering (CPE) would be looking for a large-grained white sand for the beach project, but unfortunately, St. Denis wrote that this type of sand was not found.
Larger grained, coarse sand is required for nesting sea turtles, however, this type of sand is typically darker. The small-grained, white sand that is much softer and beachgoers prefer, is unfortunately the type that washes away faster and is not beneficial for turtle nesting.
St. Denis said that the Annual Beach Report will be presented at the March 25 regular workshop. St. Denis said that commissioners will have to choose at the workshop from several different sand options.
The first type is the fine white sand, which is desired for aesthetic/recreational purposes but does not perform as well in weather events, wrote St. Denis. The finer grained the sand, the more that is initially required to fill the beach profile because so much is lost offshore due to equilibration (sand settling). This relocation to the offshore also limits the amount that can be placed in areas such as Gulfside Road as it tends to cover both natural and artificial reefs and hard-bottom during equilibration. Finer sand is also lost to more quickly due to natural transport of waves and therefore requires more frequent renourishments. These factors increase project costs, states St. Denis.
The slightly larger white grained sand that the town engineers have located, would allow the town to use less sand initially, which lowers project costs, performs better in weather events and reduces concerns associated with hard-bottom impacts.
There is also a coarse gray sand option, according to St. Denis, but the large grain requires significantly less sand to fill the profile, has minimum movement associated with equilibration and performs well in storm conditions. For these reasons use of coarse sand tends to reduce project costs.
St. Denis said there will be examples of the different types of sand at Town Hall for commissioners to view at the workshop. CPE will start the meeting with the Annual Beach Report. St. Denis said CPE will discuss the advantages and disadvantages, issues associated with and the relative cost of the use of each type of sand, although he notes that there will not be any cost estimates for the project at this point. The cost information presented will be the relative cost of each option compared to the others. St. Denis wrote that the town must stay on schedule in order to get the sand from borrow areas before the Port Dolphin June 2012 deadline.
