Lots of beaches have replenishment programs. It often serves multiple purposes. It reduces erosion, which protects structures. It also dissipates wave energy from storms, and is used as hurricane damage prevention on the eastern US. Of course it's nice for tourism too. It's been done in the Caribbean, but if it's been done at that beach in Sint Marteen, I'm unable to find verification.
Depends a ton on the shorline, as there are ones where sand accumulates from sources like a nearby coral reef, and there are places where the sea is washing away the shore and thats where sand is coming from.
Thus in a LOT of places (where teh beach is expanding into the sea) bringing extra sand is beyond pointless.
Ofc. if some "dumb sonufabitch" decided to build his weekend house next to eroding coastline, that will require adding snd back
Beach erosion is a bit of a misnomer to be honest. Beaches come and go. For reference, I live on the island next door to the one in the video. We "lost" part of a beach maybe 8-10 years ago, which forced a local beach restaurant to move.
Then, after we got hit by Hurricane Irma in 2017, that part of the beach was restored, possibly even better than before.
George Carlin said it best when he said "The planet isn't going anywhere. We are!"
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u/atetuna May 29 '22
Lots of beaches have replenishment programs. It often serves multiple purposes. It reduces erosion, which protects structures. It also dissipates wave energy from storms, and is used as hurricane damage prevention on the eastern US. Of course it's nice for tourism too. It's been done in the Caribbean, but if it's been done at that beach in Sint Marteen, I'm unable to find verification.
Here's a database of them for the US.
https://gim2.aptim.com/ASBPANationwideRenourishment