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These Army Corps projects are just perpetual work projects. The Hepburn Dune living shoreline project in Old Saybrook was created because the beach and dune system were breached during a bad storm, Barrett said. In many ways, with none of these things, whether its a living shoreline or a traditional flood and erosion control structure, youre not going to [prevent erosion] if youre in an area thats absolutely prone to severe erosion. As part of that project, the corps agreed to return to the area to make repairs for 50 years on a regular basis, and on an emergent basis after severe storms. Living shorelines are much more beneficial for coastal habitats, Barrett argued. Ultimately, the increase in living shorelines could increase the amount of wetland habitat on the Connecticut shoreline, according to Jacobson. Building a bulkhead or seawall along one or a few coastal properties may protect homes from damaging storm waves for a few years, but could end up doing more harm than good. Getting to. Without those defenses, were basically at the mercy of every tide, said Mike Cahill, emergency management coordinator and fire chief for Ventnor. That makes the area hazardous, Curtis said. This has led the. That amount of sea level rise does not bode well for Connecticut beaches when combined with an increased number of severe storms hitting the state every year, as, higher sea levels can worsen erosion and lead to more frequent flooding. According to Stephen Leatherman (Dr. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Hopefully, if we were to have the same conversation in five to 10 years, the ones that weve put in place to function have performed successfully. The Borough of Beach Haven is home to a "There will be a couple sections maybe in the low numbered streets that are going to have some issues by Memorial Day, but overall most of the beaches will be back in good shape," said Rosenello. BAY HEAD - Thepowerful nor'easter that struck the Shore this week carved large chunks from thedune line in Bay Head, leaving Mayor Bill Curtis fearful that the dunes could be breached if another strong storm hits. The storm is caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ian, which caused devastation in parts of Florida and the Carolinas, and killed more than 65 people, according to the Associated Press. As the wind starts to die down by Wednesday, Sferra said the department will bring out its bulldozers and begin pushing the sand back in place, so people have access to the beach. In Downbeach, Ventnor officials said the storm wreaked havoc on some of their beaches as well. You have permission to edit this article. There are vertical drops of up to 16 feet to the beach in Holgate, and up to 20 feet has been gouged from the width of dunes there. A survey of Jersey Shore beaches conducted by the DEP's Division of Coastal Engineering following the storm looked at 81 sites up and down the coast. A living shoreline project in Stratford Point was built in 2014 and later expanded consisting of artificial reef balls that both break up the wave energy hitting the beach and provide habitat for clams, mussels and fish within their cracks and crevices. The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum. At some point, youre going to wake up and [life is] going to be radically different for people, OBrien said. Were trying to maintain the natural relationship with these shoreline features, Jacobson said. A town wants to do a good thing, and theyre punishing it, and its not good. Erosion of the dune and loss of the beach is a large kink in the armor that defends the barrier island communities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said last weeks noreaster doesnt appear likely to qualify as the sort of extraordinary storm event necessary to free up emergency reconstruction aid. And when you do end up having to replace those, that I think is where the costs really add up, Krofta said. A lot of dune damage," said Rich Fuchs, President of the Stone Harbor Property Owners Association, who described the conditions of the weekend storm. One of the big issues with a seawall is that you put up the seawall and youre blocking the land-water interface, Barrett said. In January 2020, a $1.25 million government-led project was proposed to counter erosion at the southern end of Seven Mile Beach. + Caption. The Corps is expected to do more work and dump more sand in Ortley Beach, Bay Head and Mantoloking, areas where there has been more erosion since the corps finished the last dune repair project. You can cancel at any time. Reasons behind Amtrak's nationwide breaking system outage due to investigators next week, About $30 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill. OBrien admits that sometimes it isnt possible to completely prevent beach erosion. But that money is not likely to materialize. Connecticut communities like New Haven stand to lose a lot from increased flooding. You may be buying yourself some time, but its foolish to think that youre going to put in one particular thing, wipe your hands and be like, OK, Im done. Leaders of oceanfront towns have expressed concern that the storm has made beaches vulnerable at the start of nor'easter season. There is an Army Corps of Engineers project in development that would build a continuous berm or dune to help protect the Wildwoods from Hereford Inlet all the way down to Cape May, but that likely won't start construction until next year. That amount of sea level rise does not bode well for Connecticut beaches when combined with an increased number of severe storms hitting the state every year, as higher sea levels can worsen erosion and lead to more frequent flooding. In between renourishments conducted by the corps, beach maintenance is the responsibility of the DEP and local towns, he said. When storm-induced waves exceed the height of the dune, sand is transported over top of the dune and deposited inland. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Ian remnants erode N.J. beaches, creating dramatic 12-foot cliffs in So far, most of the funding for living shoreline projects in Connecticut has come from grants, as well as funding from the municipalities installing these projects. City officials say this all started a couple of weeks ago. 'Something that we haven't seen before': Massive beach erosion growing Get CT Mirror briefings with enterprise reporting, investigations and more in your inbox daily. Toms River has blocked access to the beach in the Ortley Beach areas that suffered the most damage; Bay Head has done the same in the damaged areas of the borough's beachfront. 'Major' beach erosion in 6 South Jersey towns after last week's nor'easter. Sand that is pumped onto our beaches also gets washed into our bays, making them shallow and causing more flooding, Jeff Tittle, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a statement. The storm started with the remnants of Hurricane Ian, which transferred off the Mid-Atlantic coast and formed a coastal low pressure system. A handicapped area at one street for people to walk onto the beaches is just gone, he added. "I won't go down there," he said. DEEP is actively discouraging the construction of new flood and erosion control structures in Connecticut, according to Jacobson. The corps does plan periodic renourishment in areas where it has completed beach replenishment projects. One reason living shorelines may be beneficial as sea level rises is because structures like sills cause sediment to accumulate on the shore, strengthening marshes and other coastal habitats. So all the sand is just washed-out.". These preventative measures have ended up isolating the beach from the park even more, said New Haven City engineer Giovanni Zinn.