Wave Climate and Littoral Sediment Transport Potential, Long Beach Island, New Jersey

Abstract : As part of a beach nourishment feasibility study for Long Beach Island, NJ, a study of the impacts of borrowing material from nearshore and offshore regions on the regional coastal processes was required. Four potential borrow sites for the Long Beach Island nourishment project were identified (Figure 1): Area A-the ebb shoal at Barnegat Inlet; Area B-nearshore shoal off of Loveladies; Area D-offshore borrow area; and Area E-nearshore shoal off of Brant Beach/Beach Haven Crest. Note that these borrow sites are in three different coastal environments. Specific analyses to determine the impacts of borrowing material from these sites are: to examine the relative changes in wave climate due to bathymetric changes created at the borrow sites; to determine the changes in potential longshore transport rates; to examine the impacts on nourishment requirements for proposed beachfill areas; and to look at the relative impacts on shoreline change rates. Therefore, the objective of this study was to perform these analyses and determine the relative impacts of the four borrow sites on these processes.