Beach Experiments In Surfside
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has announced the start of a project at Surfside that is an interesting approach to the serious coastal erosion issues the state is facing:
A $2.8 million project to restore almost a mile of beach and sand dunes at Surfside Beach is the newest hope to slow down erosion of Texas beaches.
Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson announced Monday that Surfside will get a $1 million grant to put 150,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach to replace sand that has been washed away by storms and high tides.
Last summer the city was awarded a $1.8 million federal grant to install a sand-filled tube called a ProTecTube to form the base for new dunes.
The project will create a 100-foot-wide beach backed by 12-foot-tall dunes, said Surfside Beach City Secretary Kelly Hamby, coordinator of the project.
The sand will be brought by barge from Matagorda County to the Intracoastal Waterway, which forms the northern boundary of the city. It will then be transported by truck to the beach.
"This will give us our beach back and protect more than 400 homes," Hamby said.
The project is the first of its kind in Texas and will serve as a test bed for other possible projects along the coast, Patterson said.
"Surfside was once one of the best beaches in Texas," Patterson said. "When these projects are done, it will be. They will protect millions of dollars worth of property and reclaim one of the most popular tourist beaches in Texas with a promising new system we hope to use coastwide someday."
The new tubes are similar to sand-filled tubes tried before on the Texas coast. Unlike the cylindrical tubes used before, the new tubes will be in three stair-stepped sections, designed to transfer the force of water washing against it upward.
When water hit the older tubes, the force of it tended to scour out the beach in front of the tubes. The tubes would also sometimes roll around in the force of water, Hamby said.
The new tubes will be covered with sand, and vegetation will be planted to help make the dunes permanent.
"There's no way anybody could have ever gotten me to support the old Geotubes," Surfside Mayor Larry Davison said. He dubbed the old black tubes "sausages."
The new tubes will be the same color as the sand. When storm tides do wash the sand away from them, they will at least blend in with the rest of the beach.
While this expensive approach obviously can't be used to protect the whole of the Texas coast, it will be interesting to see how it pans out, and if it can protect beaches that elected officials deem a priority. Further, if the experiment is successful, it could be a helpful way for the state to reconcile the competing demands of beachgoers (who have a right of access to the Texas coast guaranteed by the open Beaches Act) and affluent coastal property owners (who long for some way to protect their investments against the ravages of nature).
Patterson has been an effective leader on this issue, and deserves praise for it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/19/04 23:15 | Outdoors | Technorati
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Comments
most of the beach shacks in Surfside need to get washed away. it's not 'zactly Palm Beach down there, if you catch my drift.
Posted by kelly hawes @ 23:36 on 10/19/04
No doubt that many of the shanties already in violation of the Open Beaches Act NEED TO GO, and I've seen photos of some of the more egregious ones.
I was thinking more of the West Galveston property owners with my reference to property owners, and their much fancier beach homes.
Posted by Kevin @ 23:40 on 10/19/04
Deputy Land Commissioner and Chief Clerk Larry Laine works for Jerry Patterson, and used to live directly on the beach in Surfside. I imagine that he has had some input and firsthand knowledge of the situation.
Posted by Chris Elam @ 23:51 on 10/19/04
Chris: I would imagine so too. :)
It's really kind of a tough situation. You have structures that violate the Open Beaches Act, but if you move too aggressively legally, you might risk a regulatory takings challenge in federal courts that could seriously weaken the Open Beaches Act. Hard to please everyone involved. I think Patterson has done a nice job balancing competing interests.
Posted by Kevin @ 23:57 on 10/19/04
erosion on beach is caused by the jetties and the canal for larger ships to arrive in port. channel is dredgge to a fifty foot depth between surfside and quintana and is dredged out for five miles. erosion will not stop until something such as an underwater jetties is built to stop the sand from drifting back into the channel.I have watch it since 1961 as I grew up there.
Posted by george smith @ 19:42 on 03/09/05
You might find my report on beach erosion at Surfside interesting.
Richard L. Watson, Ph.D.
Consulting Geologist
http://www.texascoastgeolog...
Posted by Richard L. Watson @ 22:25 on 04/30/05
I think the quaint surf shacks in surfside give it its charm and would hate to see the type of developement that has enqulfed west Galveston take over Surfside. Surfside is wonderful and charming and it is one of the Texas coast's best kept secrets!
Long live Surfside!!
Posted by matt bowlin @ 18:50 on 03/23/06
I agree, it is a relatively affordable, authentic and charming.
These tubes may help some, but a real study should be done relating to the canal and jetty. It seems like the beach should be fed by sediment from channel, but because of the jetties and depth, the sand is just rolling out to the gulf.
Posted by Richard @ 15:30 on 04/22/07
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