ref: Beach Nourishment Project
I have spent some time reading your town (Nags Head) engineer's June and November 2012 Survey Reports, strictly from the viewpoint of a novice (I'll admit).
First, may I say, it is my belief that, in the court of public opinion regarding this nourishment project, most people, including myself, will judge its success by the amount of sand that remains on the "visible beach" from the time the project was completed, forward. The engineer can tell me all day long how much nourishment sand is laying out in the ocean off the immediate beach, but I didn't expect him to nourish the ocean bottom, just like he didn't try to convince me or you that the near shore of the beach, out to 12 feet and beyond, needed over 1,000,000 cubic yards more sand to the tune of $8.00+ per cubic yard. But, that's exactly what happened. Furthermore, I am totally confused as to how much sand was already in this zone "before the nourishment project started". Did the engineer explain this to the town council?
Anyway, as I said, my impression of the success or failure of the project (as to the sand remaining on the beach) will always be focused on how much sand remains on the visible beach. And, to me "visible" means what I can "see with my semi-educated eye...after spending many, many years on Nags Head's winter beaches. In my opinion, over 70% of the sand which was first placed on the visible beach in the overall project area, is no longer on the visible beach. It means little to me how much of that sand now lays out in the ocean. There has always been ample sand laying out in the ocean, and in fact, the water just off your town beach now appears deeper to me (and most people) than it was before nourishment, which begs to question the engineer's claim that the nourishment sand is laying safely in the near shore, in addition to sand that was already out there in the water. If so, wouldn't this make the water shallower?
Anyway, it appears to me, that the engineer's survey is trying to tell you that, as of November 2012, 62.3% of the original sand placed on the "visible beach" from the foredune to MLW (mean low water) is STILL IN PLACE. I disagree. In my opinion 62.3% to 70% of that sand is GONE FROM THE BEACH, and that's an average.
Interestingly, the November 2012 report also shows this same zone lost an additional 15% of its visible sand during the five month period from June/November 2012.
I suggest the Town of Nags Head should require the engineer to do his two surveys with one during the summer months and one during the winter months, e.g. June and January, or better yet, hire out an independent survey of the post nourishment project.
Seriously, Bob, I rode the Nags Head beach via my 4x4 this past week and saw very little difference in the beach from the Epstien tract north and the section south of the Outer Banks Pier. In addition, the oceanfront immediately east of the Comfort Inn shows continuous signs of wanting to erode to back to where it was prior to nourishment.
In closing, the statement by the engineer that the foredune has gained sand due to overwash and wind is true, and, in my opinion not fair to those who paid their hard earn dollars to fund this project, only to have people ignore removing sandbags and in some cases, not giving easements. Still, they benefited from overwash and windblown sand as much as everyone else. The engineer knew this would happen and so did the property owners who refused to remove their sandbags. It stinks and the town did little to stop it...JMO.
Ray
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