LAND OFFICE EFFORT NOW TO NOURISH BEACHFRONT The Facts : February 12, 2010 The Facts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Land office effort now to nourish beachfront By Nathaniel Lukefahr The Facts Published February 12, 2010 SURFSIDE BEACH — Debris removal crews pulled more than 350 cubic yards of trash from the sand, and the Texas General Land Office is now focused on bolstering the weakened beachfront. The GLO is seeking locations to purchase the estimated 300,000 cubic yards of sand needed to nourish the beach and finalize designs for sand placement, which is set to begin by the end of March or early April, agency spokesman Jim Suydam said. “It’ll be three to four months of work before the beach nourishment is done,” Suydam said. The debris removal and beach nourishment efforts are two of three projects initiated by the land office in December to bolster the beachfront, which has lost feet of sand in recent months from increased erosion caused by cold fronts and storms churning in the Gulf of Mexico. The third leg of the $5.3 million emergency plan is repairing the Beach Drive revetment wall, which decreased in height because of the erosion and suffered damage during Hurricane Ike. The land office is set to begin the revetment wall repairs after the nourishment project is finished, Suydam said. Work crews began removing debris from the beachfront Jan. 25 and finished five days later, Suydam said. Items taken from the sand during the job, which was completed for about $150,000, included old septic tanks, concrete, sheet-pilings and old pipes. “Some of the sheet pilings that were pulled up were really nasty,” Suydam said. “It was stuff that looked like a giant, jagged tin can. I’m glad this stuff is off the beach; it looks really dangerous.” Mayor Larry Davison said the debris removal project appeared thorough. “It looks good,” Davison said. “And we haven’t gotten any complaints about missed this or missed that.” Suydam said the land office is seeking the best deal on “beach quality” sand, but declined to say where it is looking because it could raise offers submitted by prospective vendors. “There’s a whole science to this,” Suydam said. “Everything from the granularity of the sand that goes down, you can’t have too much clay and you can’t have too much silt.” Davison said he is excited to see the finished project. “We’re anxious and excited and we can’t wait for it to start,” Davison said. “We want to facilitate it and make it as easy as possible for the people who will be putting it in.” Nathaniel Lukefahr covers Surfside Beach for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0151. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2010 The Facts