Beach Erosion Research and Monitoring

Grand Strand Renourishment

A beach nourishment project for the Grand Strand was initiated in November 2007 and is scheduled to add approximately 3 million yd³ (15-25 yd³/ft) to the beaches of North Myrtle, Myrtle, Surfside, and Garden City (Fig. 1 click to view full size).

For an interactive animation of the nourishment process developed by US Army Corps of Engineers, visit the Beach Nourishment Process site. Briefly, a hopper dredge removes sand from a borrow site, unloads the sand at a pump-out station that pumps the sand and water slurry to the beach, and bulldozers are used to rework the sand to the design specifications. A short film of the nourishment process taken at Surfside Beach in January 2008 can be viewed below. To date, the Garden City/Surfside areas have been completed (Nov. 2007 – Feb. 2008) and work has been suspended to address flooding hazards in the Midwest. Work is scheduled to resume around Labor Day (September).

BERM and Coastal Carolina contributions to this nourishment project in addition to established monitoring and research efforts include:

1. Pre and post bathymetric surveys of borrow sites,
2. Pre and post side scan surveys of critical habitat areas,
3. Pre and post surveys of established beach profiles (170),
4. Video monitoring (one camera per reach),
5. Aerial photography (quarterly), and
6. Topographic surveys of Myrtle Beach (quarterly).

Examples of data are provided from the recent nourishment at Garden City (GC) and Surfside (SS). Nine profiles are collected annually between the GC and SS Piers (Fig. 2 click to view full size). Profile 5015 is located approximately 1000m north of the GC pier and is representative of all profiles in this stretch. Profile surveys were conducted in January 2007 (blue), September 2007 (red), and March 2008 (black) (Fig. 3 click to view full size).

Profile data indicated erosion of the berm and foredune system between the January and September 2007 surveys and the addition of sand between the September 2007 and March 2008 surveys. Monthly shoreline data collected between the GC and SS piers indicate the Mean High Water (MHW) contour (0.63m, 2.06 ft., NAVD88) moved approximately 25m seaward as a result of the nourishment (Fig. 4 click to view full size). The addition of sand to the berm is evident in the pre and post nourishment photo taken at profile 5015 (Fig. 5 click to view full size).