Sunday, July 10, 2016

Skyline


I'm playing catch up, so this post dates back to late May.

I posted from here a few years ago and mentioned wanting to see how it weathered over time.
Skyline: November 2012

AERIAL VIEW

This project, which extends about 1000' along the shore, is a complex crib consisting of stacked and interlocking timbers, reinforced with steel cables. It's relatively steep - definitely a revetment, not a beach! While it's easy to see how dirt would get eroded from behind the structure, it's more difficult to see how normal beach building processes (the movement of sediment up the profile by waves) can maintain or rebuild the berm. Loss of sediment has been remedied recently with the addition of small rock (angular, not gravel or cobble) in the eroded areas behind the logs.

The most vulnerable segment of this project is where the shoreline bends, creating a convex seaward curve - a small headland of sorts. This likely results in a steeper profile, more wave action, and a natural tendency for sediment to be moved away from the spot over time.  This is in contrast to the concave seaward beach west of the project, where a small pocket beach is accumulating material (probably material eroded from the headland just mentioned).

This small pocket is at the location of the original tidal inlet, which was relocated to the east end of the spit when this area was (re)developed.


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