Introduction

This chapter reviews the ways that sediment lost from beaches and dunes is replaced using material brought from outside the nourished area. The discussion is largely confined to design considerations, overall shape and volume of nourishment projects, as built, along with initial implications for biota. The distinction between nourished beaches and natural beaches and their resource values is further clarified in chapters 5 and 8.

There is no lack of experience with beach nourishment projects, and there are numerous case studies that evaluate these projects. A total of 138 articles on beach nourishment, artificial beaches and sand bypassing were published in the journal Shore and Beach alone between 1933 and 1992 (Wiegel 1992c). There are monographs and edited volumes on the topic (Stauble and Kraus 1993a; National Research Council 1995; Tait 1996), summaries and reviews (e.g., Stauble and Nelson 1985; Houston 1996c), and detailed evaluations of some of the larger projects (e.g., Wiegel 1992b; Stauble and Kraus 1993b). The nourishment option is now used nearly routinely throughout the world (Swart 1991; Davison et al. 1992), and nourishment has become cost-effective (relative to hard structures) due to improvements in dredging technology and the implementation of nourishment programs over longer reaches of shoreline (van Oorschot and van Raalte 1991).

A distinction can be made in use of the terms “nourishing” (or replenishing) and “restoring. ” The word restoring is often a misnomer when applied to nourishment operations because beach and dune environments are not restored simply by placing a volume of sediment on a coast.