Historical Analysis of the Change in Percent Fines during Beach Nourishment

Abstract

This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) presents an analysis of the change in fine grained sediments (fines), comprised of silt and clay sized particles, content through hydraulic placement of sand on the beach through the dredging process during beach nourishment projects. The investigation sought to better understand the percentage of fines lost during hydraulic placement to provide greater confidence that sand sources with fines content greater than 5 percent are suitable for beach or nearshore placement. This analysis, which utilizes sediments from projects within the State of Florida, may be used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and by regulatory agencies such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to guide decision making when designating dredged material for offshore disposal, nearshore, or beach placement, as part of navigational operation and maintenance projects (O and M) and shore protection projects (SPP). The loss of sand from Floridas beaches and coastal systems is a serious problem that affects not only the coastal system but also the economic livelihood of Floridas coastal communities. Beach erosion is a chronic problem in Florida, influenced by sea-level rise, natural coastal processes, storms, and inlet management (Clark 1993). The FDEP has documented 411.2 miles of critically eroded beaches, 8.7 miles of critically eroded inlet shoreline, 93.5 miles of non-critically eroded beaches, and 3.2 miles of non-critically eroded inlet shoreline statewide in a report cataloging the critically eroded beaches in Florida, as shown in Figure 1 (FDEP 2016a). Floridas eroding beaches first began receiving sand as beneficial use from maintenance projects as early as the 1940s, but traditional beach nourishment practices did not begin until the early 1970s.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1074732

Entities

People

  • Jase D. Ousley
  • Jennifer L. Coor

Organizations

  • Engineer Research and Development Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Corps Of Engineers
  • Beach Erosion
  • Coastal Management
  • Composite Materials
  • Data Sets
  • Dredging
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Environmental Protection
  • Fish
  • Grain Size
  • Materials
  • Sea Level
  • Sea Level Rise
  • Sediments
  • Shore Protection
  • Shores

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Geology

Readers

  • Coastal and Marine Engineering/Sediment Transport/Hydraulic Engineering
  • Systems Analysis and Design