Beach replenishment question

[Heavygold4me]

I know there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, but in general how long before a beach is productive again after replenishment? Here on the gulf coast of mississippi they are doing a complete replenishment program. It’s supposed to take 16 months to complete. One of my more productive areas now has at least 5 feet of sand pumped in and has been extended out 285 feet from the sea wall . The sand is coming from I’m guessing about a quarter mile offshore, I’m really not expecting any good targets to be pumped in. Aside from fresh drops what should I expect? We have a fair amount of tourists come here and go to the beach, but nothing like Alabama or Florida.
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[k0bgalan]

I don't beach comb, but I know this; There are too many variables to address the question using logic. The only help you'll get is from anecdotal evidence.

 

[pepperj]

I know one answer to this. Detecting after the event is VERY QUIET.
Fresh drops is the only possible thing-except if by chance they pumped something small up from out there.
Anything big is going to get caught in the pre-screened slurry of sand.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Fresh drops until a storm hits, state replenish the beachs on Florida East coast almost every year.

 

[Heavygold4me]

Fresh drops until a storm hits, state replenish the beachs on Florida East coast almost every year.

I’m preparing myself for a tough couple of years around here. Fortunately, Alabama and Florida are only a couple of hours away.

 

[Sand Swinger]

I know there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, but in general how long before a beach is productive again after replenishment? Here on the gulf coast of mississippi they are doing a complete replenishment program. It’s supposed to take 16 months to complete. One of my more productive areas now has at least 5 feet of sand pumped in and has been extended out 285 feet from the sea wall . The sand is coming from I’m guessing about a quarter mile offshore, I’m really not expecting any good targets to be pumped in. Aside from fresh drops what should I expect? We have a fair amount of tourists come here and go to the beach, but nothing like Alabama or Florida.
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I understand the reasoning for replenishment, but I've always felt they're just fighting a losing battle. Just watched a short video the other day, TV weather guy showing some storms currently in development that might be coming up the coast. And after the summer, we'll be moving into hurricane season. So, like Treasure Hunter said, fresh drops only now until the next storm hits. Once the next hurricane heads up the coast, or you get the next strong nor'easter in your area, I'd get back out on the beach immediately after the storm moves away from the area. A good hurricane or strong nor'easter can change the landscape of any beach quickly. Just a word of advice when hunting after a hurricane or strong nor'easter, be careful with your timing.

A dozen or so years ago, I hunted a beach as a hurricane was passing by off the coast. And while it was an incredibly surreal experience, it wasn't much fun. When I arrived, I had to hold onto the door of my car, as the winds were extremely strong and I was afraid they would rip the door off its hinges. When I got on the beach, it was a ghost town, I was the only person on the beach as far as the eye could see. Lights were out in all the surrounding condos, and no vehicles were on the road. It was literally like I was the last person on earth; the entire area was totally deserted. Then once I got out on the beach, I found myself dealing with strong gale force winds and had to lean forward so I didn't get blown over. My rain jacket was flapping so hard that it made loud noises, like the wind was trying to rip it off my body. When I looked down, I saw rivers of sand blowing by me. Thankfully, I was wearing wraparound sunglasses to protect my eyes, a ball cap with brim to protect my face when looking down, and I used my rain jackets hood to cover my entire head and my headphones.

Then, when I got down on the wet, and ventured just a couple feet into the water, I looked up and saw the most insanely huge waves I've ever seen in my entire life, probably about 20 or so feet tall, they were monsters and they looked like they were right in front of me, not far out at all. They were coming from the right and left, crashing into each other. When I saw that, I thought about the potential for rip tides, so I quickly moved outta the water and back to wet & dry sand, where I once again had to lean forward to walk and had to keep my head down so the brim of my hat would take the brunt of the sand flowing by me, which prevented my face from getting sandblasted. Looking back, it was an incredible experience, but I was a bit too quick to get out on the beach, as it's very difficult and not much fun to hunt bent over due to the strong winds, along with making sure my face didn't get sand blasted by those rivers of sand blowing by. Had to leave the next day, so being out there before the hurricane actually left the area was my only shot at hunting.

 

[Sandog]

I’m preparing myself for a tough couple of years around here. Fortunately, Alabama and Florida are only a couple of hours away.

Always do a little advance research on the FL beaches. Lot's of renourishment projects going on.

 

[OBN]

I know there are a lot of factors to take into consideration, but in general how long before a beach is productive again after replenishment? Here on the gulf coast of mississippi they are doing a complete replenishment program. It’s supposed to take 16 months to complete. One of my more productive areas now has at least 5 feet of sand pumped in and has been extended out 285 feet from the sea wall . The sand is coming from I’m guessing about a quarter mile offshore, I’m really not expecting any good targets to be pumped in. Aside from fresh drops what should I expect? We have a fair amount of tourists come here and go to the beach, but nothing like Alabama or Florida.
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Just my opinion

Im going to go out on a limb and say, your screwed. And I only say that for it seems once they start, they will return in 4 to 5 years and then they do it again, and you will never see what once was.... your only hope is a devastating storm to move all. I seen this happen at a few spots I hunted.. I was hoping the funds for this would be canceled ... by the new Admin of the USA..

 

[Sand Swinger]

Just my opinion

Im going to go out on a limb and say, your screwed. And I only say that for it seems once they start, they will return in 4 to 5 years and then they do it again, and you will never see what once was.... your only hope is a devastating storm to move all. I seen this happen at a few spots I hunted.. I was hoping the funds for this would be canceled ... by the new Admin of the USA..

What about this Joe, would like your opinion. Just thinking about the times I've been hunting on the beach when they were conducting replenishment. IIRC, it seemed to me that their primary focus was adding sand back up on the dry. IMHO, it would make no sense to dump pumped sand on the wet, because in just a couple of tide cycles, that sand would either be smoothed out or pulled back into the ocean. And to my knowledge, I don't think they're dumping sand into shallow water, which again, IMHO, would be futile as water rushing in and out would strip that sand quickly.

So, just wondering. After beach replenishment, the dry sand areas are most definitely screwed after a few feet of extra sand is dumped on top. So, that sand will just sit there until stripped by a storm. But for me, I'd just focus on hitting the wet and shallow water where I don't think they're trying to deposit new sand. If I'm right about this, that would mean that all hope might not be lost. Hunters would just need to forego the dry and move down and focus hunting on the wet & shallow water, which is where I prefer to hunt anyway. Just wondering, does sand replenishment only affect the dry, or do they also try adding sand to the wet & shallow water? Opinion?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

It depends on how flat the beach is, in Florida they pump and dump sand anywhere from 80 ft to 250 feet seaward. Daytona, New Smyrna beaches are flat, Cocoa isnt. Beaches in St Pete Clearwater area are flat as well.

 

[surfnturf]

When I was a kid they did that on Delray Beach. We were finding beautiful seashells.

 

[mtdoramike]

Fresh drops until a storm hits, state replenish the beachs on Florida East coast almost every year.

TH is right, if you can catch the beach right after a fairly strong storm that will hopefully drag out enough sand to get close to the hard pan, you might hit some older targets.

 

[Heavygold4me]

I understand the reasoning for replenishment, but I've always felt they're just fighting a losing battle. Just watched a short video the other day, TV weather guy showing some storms currently in development that might be coming up the coast. And after the summer, we'll be moving into hurricane season. So, like Treasure Hunter said, fresh drops only now until the next storm hits. Once the next hurricane heads up the coast, or you get the next strong nor'easter in your area, I'd get back out on the beach immediately after the storm moves away from the area. A good hurricane or strong nor'easter can change the landscape of any beach quickly. Just a word of advice when hunting after a hurricane or strong nor'easter, be careful with your timing.

A dozen or so years ago, I hunted a beach as a hurricane was passing by off the coast. And while it was an incredibly surreal experience, it wasn't much fun. When I arrived, I had to hold onto the door of my car, as the winds were extremely strong and I was afraid they would rip the door off its hinges. When I got on the beach, it was a ghost town, I was the only person on the beach as far as the eye could see. Lights were out in all the surrounding condos, and no vehicles were on the road. It was literally like I was the last person on earth; the entire area was totally deserted. Then once I got out on the beach, I found myself dealing with strong gale force winds and had to lean forward so I didn't get blown over. My rain jacket was flapping so hard that it made loud noises, like the wind was trying to rip it off my body. When I looked down, I saw rivers of sand blowing by me. Thankfully, I was wearing wraparound sunglasses to protect my eyes, a ball cap with brim to protect my face when looking down, and I used my rain jackets hood to cover my entire head and my headphones.

Then, when I got down on the wet, and ventured just a couple feet into the water, I looked up and saw the most insanely huge waves I've ever seen in my entire life, probably about 20 or so feet tall, they were monsters and they looked like they were right in front of me, not far out at all. They were coming from the right and left, crashing into each other. When I saw that, I thought about the potential for rip tides, so I quickly moved outta the water and back to wet & dry sand, where I once again had to lean forward to walk and had to keep my head down so the brim of my hat would take the brunt of the sand flowing by me, which prevented my face from getting sandblasted. Looking back, it was an incredible experience, but I was a bit too quick to get out on the beach, as it's very difficult and not much fun to hunt bent over due to the strong winds, along with making sure my face didn't get sand blasted by those rivers of sand blowing by. Had to leave the next day, so being out there before the hurricane actually left the area was my only shot at hunting.

That sounds intense

 

[Heavygold4me]

I’ve always hunted the wet and shallow water, occasionally I’ll hunt the dry sand. What they are doing is pumping sand starting in the dry and extending out into the water covering up the areas I’ve always hunted. I’m hoping that I’ll just have to hunt out farther than I’ve been hunting and still be able to find some good targets. I’m guessing that through the erosion process those areas will also get another layer of sand making what targets are there more difficult to reach. Most of what I find is old deep targets that are only a whisper when I swing over them, I’m going in 67, I may never live long enough to see that again.

 

[Sand Swinger]

That sounds intense

It was very intense, surreal, amazing, incredible, freaky, and probably many other descriptives, lol. I'm glad I had a chance to experience that form of extreme detecting. But that was about a dozen or so years ago, when the wife and I had a beach house, so I was hunting the beaches every weekend and a week in the summer for over 10 years.

I was a dozen years younger, my legs were much stronger from years of walking on dry sand, wet sand and in water, and my arms, shoulders and back were much stronger as well from digging thousands of holes over the years. I don't think I'd be able to do it again now that I'm older and we sold our beach house a few years ago, but I am glad I got to do it at least once, lol. My only regret is that I didn't have a GoPro or a way to record the experience. I would have loved to have shown the wife what I saw.

 

[Sand Swinger]

I’ve always hunted the wet and shallow water, occasionally I’ll hunt the dry sand. What they are doing is pumping sand starting in the dry and extending out into the water covering up the areas I’ve always hunted. I’m hoping that I’ll just have to hunt out farther than I’ve been hunting and still be able to find some good targets. I’m guessing that through the erosion process those areas will also get another layer of sand making what targets are there more difficult to reach. Most of what I find is old deep targets that are only a whisper when I swing over them, I’m going in 67, I may never live long enough to see that again.

My thought is that any sand pumped up on the dry, will stay there until a strong storm moves the sand and pulls it back into the water. But even if sand was pumped to cover the wet and shallow water, that sand is within the waters reach, so during tide changes and even small, light storms, that sand can be pulled back into the ocean by the water.

So, IMHO, dumping sand on the wet and into shallow water is a short-lived situation, compared to sand dumped on the dry, where it will sit undisturbed until a large storm comes by and relocates the sand. But with saltwater constantly rushing in & flowing back out, the water is gonna take a lot of that newly deposited sand back out to the ocean. Personally, after a replenishment, I'd focus on hunting the wet and shallow water, which is where I always hunt anyway. But I can see where that could be a challenging situation for guys who only hunt on the dry.

 

[Heavygold4me]

My thought is that any sand pumped up on the dry, will stay there until a strong storm moves the sand and pulls it back into the water. But even if sand was pumped to cover the wet and shallow water, that sand is within the waters reach, so during tide changes and even small, light storms, that sand can be pulled back into the ocean by the water.

So, IMHO, dumping sand on the wet and into shallow water is a short-lived situation, compared to sand dumped on the dry, where it will sit undisturbed until a large storm comes by and relocates the sand. But with saltwater constantly rushing in & flowing back out, the water is gonna take a lot of that newly deposited sand back out to the ocean. Personally, after a replenishment, I'd focus on hunting the wet and shallow water, which is where I always hunt anyway. But I can see where that could be a challenging situation for guys who only hunt on the dry.

I only hunt the dry if it’s to rough to get in the water, my knees won’t last but a couple of hours in the dry.

 

[cudamark]

Here on the west coast, the sand gets stripped away every winter, and gets pushed back in during the summer. It's a 100% even accretion and erosion formula, so, occasionally sand gets dredged and pumped back to some beaches that are more prone to erosion. I was always curious as to what sort of filtering is done by the dredging company's equipment. Will coin/ring size items go through, or, are they trapped for the dredge workers to fight over.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

In Florida when sand fill is pumped in from off shore, sometimes it throws old targets on shore, have found old coins (not Spanish treasure) that was dumped ashore from the pumped in sand. Im sure it has dumped old Spanish treasure ashore, I just have been lucky enough to find any yet.

Our problem is the gulf stream grabs the fresh sand and drags it down stream. Resanded beaches in south Florida causes beaches north to get sanded in after re-nourishment.

 

[OBN]

All that was lost a hundred years ago in OC Md will never be found,

What about this Joe, would like your opinion. Just thinking about the times I've been hunting on the beach when they were conducting replenishment. IIRC, it seemed to me that their primary focus was adding sand back up on the dry. IMHO, it would make no sense to dump pumped sand on the wet, because in just a couple of tide cycles, that sand would either be smoothed out or pulled back into the ocean. And to my knowledge, I don't think they're dumping sand into shallow water, which again, IMHO, would be futile as water rushing in and out would strip that sand quickly.

So, just wondering. After beach replenishment, the dry sand areas are most definitely screwed after a few feet of extra sand is dumped on top. So, that sand will just sit there until stripped by a storm. But for me, I'd just focus on hitting the wet and shallow water where I don't think they're trying to deposit new sand. If I'm right about this, that would mean that all hope might not be lost. Hunters would just need to forego the dry and move down and focus hunting on the wet & shallow water, which is where I prefer to hunt anyway. Just wondering, does sand replenishment only affect the dry, or do they also try adding sand to the wet & shallow water? Opinion?

First let me say Im a rookie at beach replenishment info...what I know is all from OcCop (Mark) in Maryland. He talked and had regular contact with the contractors doing the replenishment work.. over the last 2 times. 50-year partnership agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to perform beach replenishment as needed. The beach nourishment project has been done six times since the initial construction using resources from Maryland waters. (1988?) The project is done by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. Their last project involved, “renourishment of a 200-foot-wide beach over an 8.3-mile stretch of shoreline.
If I remember correct they add it all to the dry And let the ocean spread, or level it out.. see if I can find something on that..