Real World Results
Placement of the BeachSavers (Cell, 2,3 and 5)
Dr. Michael Bruno, from the Davidson Laboratories at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, who has been instrumental in suggesting certain remedies and assessments regarding the New Jersey Coast to political officials. In 1994 he submerged a narrow-crested breakwater, constructed of prefabricated concrete, called a Beachsaver Reef was placed at the seaward end in groin cells 2 and 3 as part of an experimental projected sponsored by the state of New Jersey. Recently, he commented on the results of using Beachsaver technology in three different experimental locations:
Quote by Dr. Michael Bruno
Created beaches
"All three sites, in order of placement, Avalon, Belmar-Spring Lake, and Cape May Point -- all three structures have gone to their equilibrium, and for the last year and a half or so there has been no movement of them either vertically or horizontally, so they are stable structurally. As far as their influence, we have learned a lot about the technology. We understand now, I think better than ever, where they should be employed and where they should not be. Avalon was an open-ended situation near an inlet. It had a very local effect, a positive effect, but elsewhere the beach behaved as if it wasn't there. At Belmar,-Spring Lake we had a positive effect, not a dramatic positive effect. That reef is very much submerged below the water surface. It is a very vibrant habitat, as a lot of divers have found out. So that was a positive unexpected impact. Cape May Point, far and away, the most successful of the installations. If we had been asked going into the three projects, we would have expected that to have been the worst given the very strong currents in the Delaware Bay in that area, but in fact, that's exactly what it-- It isolated that beach from the strong currents that had been responsible for the erosion there. It is also the highest in elevation of all three. You can almost walk along it at low tide. The foundation preparation was better, antiscouring preparation was better. So lessons were learned in construction and placement. The Cape May Point site is a resounding success."
