Beach replenishment not popular with VA vacationers
Published October 14, 2007 by adminSummer 2007 was memorable to some vacationers in nearby Sandbridge, VA, but not for sun, fun, open beaches or spectacular ocean views.
Instead, for some families, it was a diesel-fuming, bulldozing, port-a-potty viewing experience and not one they were happy about.
Piping in 2 million cubic yards of sand to replenish the beaches is a large project, ongoing in Va Beach and being pushed for here on the Outer Banks and specifically in the Town of Nags Head.
Unfortunately for some folks in Sandbridge this summer the two months slated for the work began right as the summer rental season heated up.
Some disgruntled vacationers vowed to never return and demanded refunds, stating the rental companies never warned them of the work and beach closures in front of their rental houses. Rental companies said they were never told in advance when work was scheduled for specific areas.
Temporary beach closings were scheduled along the route of work, supposedly only closing one section of beach for one day and then inching northward, but the nature of the work means round-the-clock bulldozer noise.
The unpredictable nature of winter storms, which are often the reason beach replenishment is needed to begin with, is exactly what prohibits some of beach renourishment work being done in the slower winter months when very few tourists are trying to enjoy the beaches.
City officials in the Va Beach area said this summer’s work was the third time in ten years that replenishment was done.
One hopes that if beach renourishment occurs on the Outer Banks or in Nags Head in the coming years, that the very thing it attempts to help is not adversely affected in the process.
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