Porous groin with flotation support

Abstract

An adjustably compliant porous groin and method for use in restoring an eroding shoreline. The compliant porous groin has a barrier suspended by flotation support within a sediment laden eroding water flow of the shoreline with the water flow passing through at least a portion of the barrier, and the bottom edge of the barrier retained proximate to the seabed. The barrier is compliant such that the water flow impacting the barrier is slowed whereby suspended sediment in the water flow accretes to renourish the shoreline.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 364,465, filed on Mar. 15, 2002, and is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 10 / 232,076 filed on Aug. 30, 2002, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 09 / 943,706 filed on Aug. 31, 2001,BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention generally relates to apparatuses and methods to restore or prevent erosion of shorelines and beaches. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for shoreline reclamation that uses a porous groin with flotation support, placed in the water proximate to the shoreline, and the structure causes accretion of sediment suspended in the water. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Shorelines on bodies of moving water, such as rivers and oceans, will erode from natural processes removing material from the shor...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

A sandy beach is easily eroded by a slow and steady stream of water, and can be quickly eroded in very turbulent and fast moving water such as the seas associated with a major storm.

Shoreline erosion is a serious problem because most of the urban areas of the world are ports having urban development right up to the shoreline.

There are often structural improvements present at and near the shoreline, such as private beach homes, hotels, bridges, retaining structures, and the like, and shoreline erosion progressively undermines the foundations thereof and threatens the physical integrity of the structures over time.

There are also many regions with beach tourism as their main industry, and thus, beach erosion can cause these regions significant economic harm by removing the main tourist attraction.

This method has many problems associated with it however.

The dredged sand often does not match the existing color of sand on the beach and diminishes the aesthetic appearance of the beach.

The dredged-sand can also contain rocks or other solid objects that can hinder water sports such as swimming or surfing, and can hurt the bare feet of waders upon the renourished beach.

However, due to the weight and bulk of the fortifying materials, such “armoring” techniques are often difficult to install on the shoreline and adequately anchor the armor to the underlying shoreline, whether beach, bank or both.

The armored structures often result in permanent structures that are not easily removed from the shoreline and prevent full enjoyment of the region of the shoreline that they overlay.

While the jetty has the advantageous effect of promoting local sediment deposition, the jetty has a distinct disadvantage in that it causes downstream and upstream erosion.

And if too many jetties are installed along a given region of shoreline, the jetties may alter the dynamic equilibrium of the shoreline and undesirably change the shape of the beach as a whole, especially when the shoreline is subject to a significant erosive event such as a storm or flood.

Further, the forces of the surf can often dislodge portions of the groin that are constantly impacted by the water flow.

The installation and removal of the plurality of stanchions is labor intensive.

In addition to the labor involved, the rows of stanchions projecting above the sea result in an undesirable visual impediment to beachgoers.

Such lifting of the groin is labor intensive if performed by hand.

Furthermore, mechanical means to perform such lifting are impractical in the ocean environment.

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