Oakland Beach

Oakland Beach is on Greenwich Bay (within Narragansett Bay) in Warwick, southeast of Providence's TF Green Airport. Unlike the beaches on Rhode Island's southern shore, this is a distinctly estuarine beach. And a highly structured one, too.

The park is located on the southern tip of a small peninsula, where waves approach primarily from the south. In a natural condition, erosion of this headland would supply sediment to longshore transport in both directions around the point (we sometimes call these divergent zones in Puget Sound), possibly forming small spits on each side of the peninsula. Even with the heavy overprint of development, you can sort of get a sense of this from the aerial imagery.

AERIAL VIEW

The beach here at the park is highly artificial - in configuration, if not the material itself (I don't know if these beaches are nourished, although I suspect they could be). A riprap revetment protects the central portion of the site. And groins are used to create beaches on both sides. The individual pocket beaches are swash-aligned, facing directly into the largest waves. 

Time to head for the airport and return my rental car. This is the ninth beach I've added to my collection in 27 hours! And not only did I sleep and eat (not much) during that time, but I also climbed the highest hill in Rhode Island (which was no where near a beach)! My Rhode Island trip can be seen through a slightly different lens over on the other blog: hshipman: November 2017.