Management of a Beach Nourishment Project during the 2004 Hurricane Season

摘要

Construction of the 2004 Treasure Island/Long Key portion of the Pinellas County Federal Nourishment Project was interrupted four times by the passage of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, providing numerous coastal management challenges. An ambitious monitoring program conducted before, during, and immediately after construction quantified shoreline and volume changes within a few days following each storm. Project managers utilized these data in post-hurricane decision making. The most dramatic erosion occurred along the Upham Beach (Long Key) segment of the project, which was completed five days prior to the passage of Frances. This segment lost up to 60 m of shoreline during the month of September 2004, an amount nearly equivalent to one year of erosion documented during previous nourishments. Based on these data, Pinellas County, the local sponsor, requested emergency storm repairs for Upham Beach, Pass-a-Grille Beach (also on Long Key), and Sunset Beach on Treasure Island. Because of resourceful interagency coordination and accessible pre- and post-storm data, repairs were initiated immediately following the storms. Despite the destructive impacts of the four hurricanes, the beaches of Sunset Beach and Upham Beach were returned to the original design templates, and an unscheduled emergency repair nourishment was completed on Pass-a-Grille Beach. A series of management and policy recommendations for local coastal managers are provided based on the experience gained during this unique project.