[Coral-List] BEACH EROSION AND REEF

[Todd Barber]

Hi Sarah,

Beach erosion using artificial reefs is a very complex subject.

I am familar with the Barcelona area and it is quite high energy.  2 meter 
depth would
require a VERY wide crest width to be effective at beach erosion control.  I 
presume
they are proposing some sort of porous concrete structures?

If you would like information on how it can be done to actually mimic a
reef go to www.reefbeach.com which is a division of our non-profit 
foundation.

Note there are several studies on this site which will give you much more
detail about the required crest and width height for submerged breakwaters 
and answers
to the technical questions you seek.

I would suggest that you contact one of the leading scientific minds on
submerged breakwaters to get the answers you need.  His name is
Dr. Lee Harris and the Florida Insititute of Technology
(lharris at fit.edu).

Thanks,

Todd R. Barber
Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
3305 Edwards Court,
Greenville, NC 27858
941-720-7549 Cell
252-353-9094 Direct
Skype Toddbarber
MSN messenger reefball at hotmail.com
reefball at reefball.com (email address)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Frias-Torres" <Sarah.FriasTorres at noaa.gov>
To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 11:04 AM
Subject: [Coral-List] BEACH EROSION AND REEF


> I'm contacting you for an urgent matter.
> Today, I was contacted by a couple of journalists from Barcelona,  Spain,
> in regards to a coastal development.
>
> The local government plans to build a 2.5 km uninterrupted submarine
> concrete reef, about 200 m from the beach, with only a 2 m clearance from
> the water surface to the top of the reef.  This is to stabilize sand
> on the beach.
>
> A number of scientists from Barcelona (me among them) are concerned that
> such a monolith will only worsen beach erosion (due to marina construction
> on either side of the beach), diminish water exchange and water quality.
> I talked to the journalists and suggested that it is better to imitate a
> natural reef, where there are spaces for the currents and waves to break.
>
> At any rate, one of the journalists wants to compile information of  any
> similar experiences (using artificial reefs to stablize beach sand, or
> accomplish beach re-nourishment) in the USA or anywhere else. How other
> people have solved the problem of beach erosion, what has worked and what
> has not
>
> If you can provide any information, please contact David Placer at
> dplacer at elperiodico.com 
> <https://webmail.rsmas.miami.edu/src/compose.php?send_to=dplacer%40elperiodico.com>. 
> He speaks fluent English and Spanish.
>
> The sea creatures of Barcelona will be thankful for your help
> Sarah Frias-Torres, PhD
> RSMAS-University of Miami
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list