Many shore communities along the East Coast of the United States

recently experienced complete devastation from Superstorm Sandy.

Strong primary dunes helped to limit the amount of damage to these
communities. Prior to the storm the importance of dunes has often
been neglected. Now most communities are seeking new ways to
increase dune profiles and prevent erosion. Like many other towns
along the coastline, Long Beach Island, New Jersey uses fencing to
build up the dunes and protect their homes and communities. Previous
studies have suggested that fencing with extended surface area and
angles accrues sand faster than the commonly used single row
straight fencing on Long Beach Island. Last year, this claim was put to
the test, and the designed modified fencing exhibited greater sand
accretion along the fencing. This year further analysis and
experimentation was used across a larger sample size to see which
components build a better dune. Fencing configuration, sand particle
size, wind, and vegetation all play a key role in dune growth. All of
these factors were analyzed at multiple site locations. Different
methods of fencing were installed on each site location. Periodic dune
profile and sand volume measurements were taken, as well as
vegetation transect surveys and sand core samples. This study clearly
suggests that dunes with extended fencing and added angles exhibit
greater accretion and higher dune height.

Introduction
Coastal dunes are constantly changing geologic features. A dunes profile
varies from high elevation with buildup from wind-trapped sand and from
being practically flat as a result of an extreme storm or hurricane (Rogers
and Nash 2003). Many of the dunes on Long Beach Island were flattened by
the recent devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Dunes protect communities
from destructive waves by physically blocking the area (Nordstrom and
Jackson 2013). The importance of dunes had often been neglected before
the natural disaster of Super Storm Sandy. Now, dune maintenance has
become a crucial part of protecting coastal homes. On Long Beach Island
there are homes immediately following the dunes. Because of this, waves
cannot be allowed to wash over the dunes.
Different methods of fencing, such as using synthetic fabrics, have been
tested in previous studies (Miller, Thetford, and Yager 2001).
Experimentations with changing fence configurations and orientations to
facilitate accretion have also been conducted. Zigzag fencing is believed to
accrue sand faster because the extended area and angles capture windblown sand (Reo 2013). However, in past reports, it was found that fencing
with zigzag configuration or additional segments did not accrue sand faster
than traditional straight fencing (Savage 1963; Miller et al. 2001). In last
winters study a similar orientation of fencing was used on Long Beach
Island, NJ as the method exploited in Reos report at Island Beach Park, NJ.
Attaching lateral sections to the posts of the existing traditional straight
fencing configured the modified fencing. It was found that by increasing both
the surface area and angles of the fencing results in faster sand accretion.
Although there is debate in the best fencing configuration, all studies agree
that without fencing there is no accretion (Reo 2013). Dune fencing also
prevents pedestrians from trekking onto the dunes resulting in further
damage (O Connell 2008).
Vegetation also plays an important role in sand accretion; both fencing
and vegetation catch the windblown sand (Doody 2013). On Long Beach
Island both of these methods are used to accrete sand. Vegetation also
allows a dune to become a functioning ecosystem as well as add to the
structural integrity of the dune (Freestone and Nordstrom 2001).
In this years study different fencing configurations were installed on the
dunes. Wind, vegetation density, sand core size, and fencing configuration
will be analyzed to see how these factors affect the volume of sand accretion
and overall dune height. These factors will be analyzed because dunes form
where there is a proper sediment source, winds cable of transporting that
sediment, and a structure to trap the traveling sand (Nordstrom and Jackson
2013). The hypothesis for this study is that the configuration with the greatest
extended surface and increased angles will produce the greatest dune height
and volume of sand accretion.

Methods

Discussion

Study Site: Dunes A-D are well-maintained dunes located in Long Beach Township. The dunes were required from a homeowner who had organized a community dune maintenance
committee. The dunes were previously vegetated with two rows of straight fencing near the berm and a row of zigzag fencing along the crest of the dune. Dunes E-H are in Beach Haven.
These dunes are maintained by Beach Haven Public Works and were acquired from them. Two dunes are both located to the north of a pavilion. Both dunes previously had double rows of
fencing along the berm with fencing segments in between them and sporadic segments extending from the back fence. Only half of both dunes were modified so they were appropriately
labeled as two different sites. The location of each dune can be seen in Figure 1.
Fence Installation: On Dunes B and C diagonal fence segments were placed in between the two rows of fencing near the berm. The distance between the two rows was measured using a
tape measure. The appropriate amount of fencing was then cut. And fastened to diagonal posts using galvanized staples. The bottom of the fencing is pushed into the sand. This is a crucial
step in fence configurations because the greatest volume of wind-blown sand travels about six inches above the ground (Rogers and Nash 2003). This process was repeated along the
whole dune on every other post. On Dunes E and G five 3 m segments were cut and attached to every other post diagonally using galvanized staples along the front row of fencing as shown
in Figures 4-8. Additional posts were placed deep into the ground to withstand wave-energy, wind, and human disturbances (OConnell 2000.)
Accretion Data: A clinometer and a range finder were used to find each dunes profile. Periodic measurements were taken weather permitting. The posts were marked at the spot of
assessment to ensure measurements were taken at the same location each time. Lying along the toe of the dune a range finder was used to measure the length from toe to crest to find the
dunes hypotenuse as seen in Figure 9. A clinometer was then used at the same spot to measure the angle from the toe to the crest to obtain the dunes slope (Shafer 1996). An additional
slope measurement at each dune was taken to account for the variability in dune height (Houser and Mathew 2011). The height of the dune was then calculated using these two
measurements with trigonometry (Reo 2013).
Dune height = sin(angleAVG) x length
Sand volume measurements were also taken to calculate the amount of sand accreted between each pair of lateral fencing segments. The width was found by measuring the distance of the
fencing in between posts. The length was obtained by measuring the length of a lateral fencing segment. Lastly, the height was calculated by measuring the exposed portion of fencing along
the back row of fencing. Fencing is 3 m tall, so the exposed portion of the fencing was subtracted from 3 m to find the amount of vertical sand accretion. These three measurements were
multiplied to find the total volume of sand in between segments.
Vegetation Transect: A square meter quadrant, shown in Figure 10, was used to calculate the culms of beach grass per square meter. The quadrant was randomly placed at four locations
on each dune. The amount of culms inside the transect was then recorded and averaged.
Sand Core: Sand core samples were taken at each dune, three samples along the crest and three samples along the berm. The sand obtained from the corer, Figure 11, was placed into
labeled bags and then dried out. The dried sand is run through a series of mesh to determine the particle size of the sand. Preparation of the sand is shown in Figure 12.
Wind Data: Wind data was also obtained using NOAAs weather database. NOAA has a weather station in Atlantic City, NJ. This weather stations data was used because it is relatively close
to the site location. Preliminary Monthly Climate Data (CF6) reports were used. The summary gave average wind in mph and peak wind in mph for each day.

Accretion measurements for Dunes A-D in Long Beach Township were

taken since week one, right after the fencing was installed. Dunes E-H
were not obtained till later, when the opportunity to work with Beach Haven
Public Works arose. The fencing was installed and the first measurements
were taken in week eight as shown in Figure 30. The amount of accretion
or wind is dependent on wind velocity rather than time. Figure 27 shows
that the stronger the wind the dune is exposed to the more erosion.
In Table 4 and Table 3 the numbers show that the growth and erosion on
both locations was consistent. However, the Beach Haven dunes were
measured for half the time that the Long Beach dunes were measured.
This suggests that the modified Beach Haven dunes shown in Figure 18
and Figure 19 are the most effective fencing configuration in increasing
dune height with two to three modified rows of fencing using spurs.
The volume of sand that accreted between rows of fencing to create a
foredune was much greater on modified dunes. The stark contrast of sand
volume can be seen in Figure 16 and Figure 17. In Table 2 and Figure 4
the total sand volume for each dune configuration. Two modified rows with
spurs (Figure 18) accumulated double the amount of sand that two regular
modified rows did. The segment with the greatest sand volume was with
three modified rows shown in Figure 19.
The vegetation analysis revealed that the dunes were all covered with
only American Beach Grass (A. breviligulata). The deep roots of American
Beach Grass provide structural support for the dune because it grows with
the sand accretion rate (Wootton et al. 2005). However, Figure 28 shows
that the accretion was an effect of the fencing more so than the vegetation.
There was also only one species of vegetation; however, one species is
better than no species with respect to dune integrity (Dahl and Woodard
1977).
The dune core analysis showed that all of the dunes tested on had the
same sand particle size. All of the sand can be classified as fine sand.
Because all of the dunes had the same sand particle size this was not a
factor in the dunes varying accretion. Three sand core samples were
taken on a replenished dune is Beach Haven Township. The sand there
was actually coarse gravel and packed very tightly into the dune.
Beach Replenished shown in Figure 23 raises the dune height by
about three to five meters. The modified fencing increased the dune height
by over a meter in two to four months. The increased dune height will
protect the dune from a storm because damage is dependent on the dune
height relative to the elevation of the storm surge (Houser and Mathew
2011). Replenishment is only a temporary fix because it only erodes with
storms and does not grow. The project protects upland areas during
storms, but ultimately reduce the resiliency of the area by impeding the
normal ebb and flow of littoral drift (Cooper and Pethick 2005). The natural
dunes will continuously grow and provide protection.

Table 1: Vegetation
coverage in culms/m

Dunes
Culms/m
Dune A
4
Dune B
8
Dune C 2

Dube D
6
Dune E
16
Dune F
10
Dune G
8
Dune H
6
Figure 24: American Beach grass at the crest of a dune in Long Beach Township.

4.75"
4.7"

Figure 22: Dune with modified and

straight fencing in Beach Haven.

Figure 23: Replenished dune in Beach

Haven.

4.6"
4.55"

The results of the study clearly indicate that the modified fencing holds
sand better against wind and erosion. Adding lateral sections harnesses
the wind better because it traps windblown sand from more wind directions
than straight fencing. Three rows of fencing with lateral sections in between
increases the dune height the most and accumulates the greatest volume
of sand to protect against storms.

Dune"A"

4.5"

Linear"(Dune"A)"

4.45"

y"="$0.1109x"+"5.509"
R"="0.97943"

4.35"
0"

Figure 26: A comparison of modified and straight fencing

dune heights. Blue bars represent modified dunes, and gray
bars represent non-modified dunes.

2"

4"
6"
8"
Average%Wind%Speed%(mph)%

10"

12"

Figure 27: Dune A with straight fencing dune height accretion

negatively correlates with increasing average wind speeds.

Figure 28: Each dunes final height shows very little

correlation to the dunes vegetation coverage.

Acknowledgements

Table 2: Sand volume accreted between two fencing posts over two
months in cubed centimeters.

Ini4al Volume Final Volume Accre4on

Dune Fencing Congura4on
(cm3)
(cm3)
(cm3)
A

Straight Fencing

2736039

2736039

Two Modifed Rows

3863317

5052030 1188713

Two Modied Rows

5686355

7693303 2006948

745674

248558 -497116

3265274

7618972 4353698

Straight Fencing
Two Modied Rows with
Spurs
Two Modied Rows with
Spurs

2013635

7047720 5034085

Three Modied Rows

8351667

11135556 2783889

Table 3: Descriptive mean statistics on the total dune accretion for the
dunes with straight and modified fencing.
Figure 21: Dune with straight fencing in
Long Beach Township.

Conclusion

4.65"

4.4"

Figure 20: Dune with modified fencing

in Long Beach Township.

Figure 25: Additional row of fencing attached to outer spurs in Beach Haven .

Straight%Fencing%Erosion%
Dune%Height%(m)%

Abstract

Modified'Fencing''
Total'Accretion!

'!

Straight'Fencing'
'Total'Accretion!

Mean!
Standard!Error!
Median!
Mode!
Standard!Deviation!
Sample!Variance!
Kurtosis!
Skewness!
Range!
Minimum!
Maximum!
Sum!
Count!
Confidence!
Level(95.0%)!

1.175!
0.075!
1.2!
1.3!
0.15!
0.0225!
*3.901234568!
*0.37037037!
0.3!
1!
1.3!
4.7!
4!
0.238683473!

Mean!
Standard!Error!
Median!
Mode!
Standard!Deviation!
Sample!Variance!
Kurtosis!
Skewness!
Range!
Minimum!
Maximum!
Sum!
Count!
Confidence!
Level(95.0%)!

r2=0.736
p=0.0063964

r2=0.736
p=0.0063964

References
r2=0.036
p=0.6542397

r2=0.036
p=0.6542397

Figure 29: Dune height accretion in Long Beach

Township for sixteen weeks. Straight fencing eroded,
while modified fencing significantly increased (p<0.01).

Figure 30: Dune height accretion in Long Beach Township

and Beach Haven for sixteen weeks. The modified dunes
exhibit positive growth, while the unmodified eroded.

'!
*0.125!
0.025!
*0.1!
*0.1!
0.05!
0.0025!
4!
*2!
0.1!
*0.2!
*0.1!
*0.5!
4!
0.079561158!

I would like to thank Long Beach Township and their recycling coordinator,
as well as Beach Haven Township and their Public Works. Thank you to my
friends and family for helping install the fencing. Lastly, thank you to my
school and my advisors for their continued guidance.

Table 4: The difference in dune height from

the first measurement to the last
measurement in meters.

Total Modied
Total Straight Fencing
Fencing Accre4on (m) Erosion (m)
1.3

-0.1

1.3

-0.2

1.1

-0.1

-0.1
Figure 31:Total sand volume accretion in million cubed centimeters over
two moths between two posts of different fencing configurations

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