You are here: GulfBase > Projects & Programs > Headland Beach Construction on Bay Shorelines	•

	Home Upcoming Events Institutions & Organizations People Bays & Estuaries Reefs, Banks & Islands Environmental Issues General Facts about the Gulf Exploration History Other Online Resources Electronic Books Mexican Coral Reef Species Checklist InfoHub Site Search:		Headland Beach Construction on Bay Shorelines © 2004 University of South Alabama A headland beach project was built on Mobile Bay, Alabama in September 1998 as a demonstration project of an alternative to bulkheading. This type of system, including sand fill and structures to extend the life of the fill, is recommended as a shoreline stabilization alternative that preserves the intertidal beach. Beach nourishment with headland breakwaters to extend the life of the beach fill is a coastal engineering technique that has been used successfully to maintain beaches both on open coast locations and on bay shorelines. The functional purpose of many of these constructed systems is a recreational beach that also protects upland property from further erosion. Several experimental systems have been developed to provide wave protection for fringe marsh construction on bay shorelines. A few offshore breakwater systems have been constructed along Gulf of Mexico estuaries (e.g. Apalachicola Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve). However, the technique is not commonly viewed as a realistic alternative to bulkheading by the general public, marine contractors and government regulators. This project of a headland beach system in Mobile Bay built as an alternative to bulkheading that preserves the intertidal beach habitat. The primary goal of this research was to demonstrate that the existing headland beach technology could be applied to the Gulf of Mexico estuaries in a cost efficient manner. A secondary goal of this research was to begin to develop design guidance for minimal levels of protection needed to maintain fringe beaches and wetlands. Principal Investigator(s) or Program Chair: Douglass, Scott Pickel, Bradley H. Sponsor(s): Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP) Institution(s): University of South Alabama (USA) Field of Focus: Artificial Beaches Study Site:   Mobile Bay Award Period:   Since 1998 Home Page:   http://www.southalabama.edu/cesrp/hbeach.htm E-mail:   sdouglas@jaguar1.usouthal.edu Keywords:   Artificial beach, Bulkhead, Shoreline stabilization, Beach nourishment, Coastal erosion
			Protected Area: Change your Password Edit your GulfBase Record Forgot your Username or Password?

GulfBase is a project of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. To give proper credit to the original authors, please cite information taken from GulfBase by the original source as displayed. To cite GulfBase, use: M. Nipper, J.A. Sánchez Chávez, and J.W. Tunnell, Jr., Editors. 2010. GulfBase: Resource Database for Gulf of Mexico Research. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.gulfbase.org, 29 July 2010.

You are visitor since October 15, 2002.	GulfBase Team   Contact Info