The American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) has just released awards for the nation’s best restored beaches.
Among this year’s best restored beaches is the Dauphin Island East End Beach in Alabama.
The Dauphin Island East End Beach and Barrier Island Restoration Project was a non-federal project which combined recreation, habitat protection and storm damage prevention into one.
The scheme restored almost one mile of highly eroding beach by placing 320,000 cubic yards of beach-quality sand on the barrier beach. The restored beach is on Alabama’s only barrier island and provides protection to the Audubon Bird sanctuary that is an important migratory rest stop, heavily used by bird watchers.
Additionally, the beach project restored a historically eroding beach that had lost over 700 feet of shoreline, so that portions of the restored beach are almost 400 feet in width. The newly restored beach is now a recreational destination for both residents and tourists.
The ASBPA created this award to highlight the value of restored beaches. They have also created a Beach Nourishment Database to provide info on U.S. beach nourishment projects at the national, state and project level.
[mappress mapid=”24101″]