Ch. 6— Environmental Considerations • 225 





Photo credit: Jay Combe, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of the New Orleans District built a beach and dune on Grand Isle, Louisiana for beach 

 erosion control, recreation, and hurricane wave damage protection (Aug. 14, 1984). 



The two offshore borrow areas from which the sand was obtained, were of sufficient width, depth, and proximity to the 

 shore to modify wave climate. Over the next 3 years, cuspate sand bars formed in the lee of the borrow pits while erosion 



occurred adjacent to these bars (Aug. 9, 1985). 



A series of hurricanes between 1984-85 severely eroded areas immediately adjacent to and between the cuspate bars 



destroying total beach and dune fill over one-seventh of the project length (Oct. 28, 1985). Plans to restore and modify 



the project to improve its resistance to damage in future hurricanes are essentially complete. 



