airs continue to be made (Dixon 231). Clearly, this method is both costly and ineffective. Another commonly used method of stopping erosion is the placement of groins, which are also ineffective. Groins are pilings of rocks that extend into the ocean and perpendicular to the shore. Like seawalls, the primary purpose of a groin is to trap sand, but in longshore currents rather than sand deposits already on the beach. Contrary to their intended purpose, these structures trap sand on the side facing a longshore current and leave the opposite side without sand (Kaufman 207). Over time, the side not facing longshore currents erodes and the initial problem reoccurs. Once again, after the unsuccessful use of groins, money and resources must be spent to restore the beach.A recent method of stopping erosion, and perhaps the most expensive, is that of sand replenishment. Sand replenishment uses dredging techniques to pipe sand from offshore deposits to the beach in an attempt to replace sand. This operation is also costly and the sand is usually lost in a major storm. Renourished beaches have a shorter life due to compaction and sea bottom imbalance differences. One example of its cost is that of Sea Bright beach where, at one million dollars a square mile; their beach was replenished (Ackerman 29). The total cost of this operation, which lasted between 1994 and 1996, was $36 million (29).These are just a few of the myriad of inadequate attempts to stop seashore erosion. Not only do these human obstructions to the natural course of nature cause an accelerated erosion, millions of government dollars are being lost in the process of attempting to save beach front property from natural erosion. There are over 90 Federal navigation projects and 21 Federal shore protection projects in Florida alone. These projects have an annual maintenance cost of $32 million. Stephen Leatherman, head of the Coastal Research laboratory at the University of M...
