F
or decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been
restoring beaches by replenishing sand from "borrow" sites
several miles offshore. It is now in the process of restoring and
changing a portion of the most developed and densely populated beachfront in the country—the 127 miles that extend from
Sandy Hook to Cape May—our Jersey Shore.
Years of study, design, and trial and error have provided beach
replenishment solutions that were put into motion before
Superstorm Sandy struck on October 29, 2012. Yet questions
about the Jersey Shore's new beachfront remain. Will these
solutions succeed beyond the short term? Will their enormous
initial and continuing costs exceed their benefits? And what will
happen with the increasing frequency and intensity of future
storms—will the new beaches all be washed away?
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