ASBPA: 2014 National Coastal Conference, Virginia Beach, VA.
Proposed presentation by:
C. Scott Hardaway, Jr.
Coastal Geologist
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
College of William and Mary
Gloucester Point, Va 23062
hardaway@vims.edu
Sand Management and Beach Restoration in the Commonwealth of Virginia: A brief history
Abstract
Beach sands have been a valuable resource in Virginia since Colonial days. Even as early
as the first settlement at Jamestown, plentiful sand led to the building of a Glass House and glass
blowing industry. Local beach sands, which are readily available and relatively clean, have been
mined extensively for glass making, concrete sand, and aggregate. By 1894, the large amounts
of sand being removed from the shoreline required the Virginia General Assembly to pass
legislation making it a felony for anyone to take more than 20 bushels of sand from the shoreline
of the Potomac River. Today, beaches are valued for their ecosystem services, recreational
opportunities, and shore protection capabilities.
Virginia passed the first dune act in 1981 whereby the beaches and dunes of the
Commonwealth are considered a valuable resource and should be protected. It began with 9
localities and was expanded to all 40 tidewater localities in 2010 due, in part, to extensive
research at VIMS. Basically, all dunes and beaches have the same components but vary in size
from larger to smaller as wave energies (and sand supply) go from open ocean to bay to riverine
exposures. Virginia code requires that suitable beach sands from navigation projects should be
used on public beaches. This presentation looks at the past 35 years of beach nourishment and
shoreline management along the ocean and Bay coasts of Virginia and how each locality has
adopted its own method of sand management.
The sand management history of Virginia’s beaches along the ocean coast from the state
line to Cape Henry, including Sandbridge, Dam Neck and the Resort Strip provide examples of
beach nourishment for shore protection and recreational purposes. Along the ocean coast of
Virginia Beach sand nourishment is the preferred method. Sand is obtained from mining offshore
shoals and from nearby navigation channels. Sand for Sandbridge and Dam Neck comes from
mining Sandbridge Shoal which has been supplying beach sand since the mid-1990s. The Resort
Strip has been nourished since the mid-1950s with sand from onshore borrow pits and sand
bypassing at Rudee Inlet which supplied about 150,000 to 300,000 cy annually, an ongoing
process. Then in 2001, operation Big Beach at the Resort Strip got over 4 million cy of sand
from deepening navigation channels into Chesapeake Bay. The next maintenance beach
nourishment project was not until 2012 with a million yards added. The Resort Strip and
associated beach is the economic driver for the City of Virginia Beaches tourist industry and
indeed the economies of surrounding localities.
Cape Henry (Fort Story) has a series of breakwaters along the coast which have
benefitted from northward moving littoral sands and has resulted in wide stable shore planform.
Entering the Bay, the Ocean Park shoreline in Virginia Beach is frequently nourished from
maintenance dredging of Lynnhaven Inlet. Moving westward to the Norfolk coast, shoreline
management has proceeded by implementing a shoreline management plan developed in 1992.
This plan covers over 7 miles of shoreline and identified three Critical Areas which have been
systematically addressed with detached breakwaters and beach nourishment. This plan is
complete and ongoing modifications and maintenance efforts continue. Sand sources have
included dredge material, upland sources, sand back passing and mining offshore shoals.
The City of Hampton developed a Bay-front shoreline management plan in 1999.
Hampton has acquired beach nourishment sands by mining Horseshoe Shoals from the mid1980s to the present with augmentation from upland borrow sites. The Buckroe public beach has
three widely-spaced, headland breakwaters, which were installed in 3 phases and have provided
longer- term residency for nourished material. Further north the Factory Point Breakwater
system was installed in 2010 to rebuild/restore the spit at Factory Point. Beach sand for the
project was obtained from mining nearby shoals in the Bay.
Finally, farther up Bay at the mouth of the York River is Yorktown, where the historic
surrender of Cornwallis to George Washington occurred. A busy seaport up until the Civil War,
the town and waterfront had fallen into serious disrepair. Then, between 1995 and 2005, a series
of headland breakwaters and beach nourishment were installed along 3,500 feet of the Yorktown
coast in 3 phases. This breakwater system of stable, protective and recreational beaches provided
the foundation for extensive waterfront revitalization with new shops, restaurants and additional
parking as well as waterfront parks and walkways. The unique system of breakwaters and
pocket beaches fit to the shore morphology on the upriver and downriver side of the Coleman
Bridge. The tidal channel of the York River runs close to shore dropping to -80 feet about 100
feet offshore. This was conducive to the installation of a series of floating concrete breakwaters
which provide docking for small and large vessels including cruise ships. All sand for the
beaches was obtained from upland borrow sites.