In 2006, Pinellas County installed five temporary geotextile T-Groin structures on Upham Beach in St. Pete Beach as a test to prove that the permanent structures scheduled for 2012 will be effective in preventing St. Pete Beach's chronic erosion.
Despite the fact that the success and effectiveness of the Upham Beach geotubes erosion control program has been well-documented, the ability of the geotubes to effectively prevent sand erosion has been repeatedly challenged by members of the surfing community, including the Suncoast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.
Pinellas County's engineers have monitored the project continuously since the project began in 2006 and have repeatedly concluded that the project has performed as it was designed to perform.
However, as a resident of Starlight Tower (which has a front row view of the whole Upham Beach erosion drama) I have conducted my own project to document the effectiveness of the Upham geotubes. Every year during the July 4th week I photograph Upham Beach and the Upham geotubes from the roof of the Starlight Tower building to provide a standardized, annual comparison of the rate of beach erosion on Upham Beach.
As a starting point for comparison, this is what Upham Beach usually looks like (without geotubes) 24 months after a beach renourishment project has put sand on the beach:
And this is what Upham Beach looked like this year, 46 months after the 2006 beach renourishment and after installation of the Upham Geotubes:
Not bad! And here are the prior years....July 4, 2009....
and July 4, 2008, 22 months after the 2006 beach renourishment and installation of the Upham geotubes:
And, again for comparison, this is what the beach looks like after only 24 or so months after a beach renourishment if there are NO geotubes in place:
The Surfriders seem to be arguing that St. Pete Beach is better off without having the geotubes (or any form of temporary or permanent erosion control structure) on Upham Beach because the there isn't sufficient evidence that the geotubes can effectively hold sand on the beach.
Well, I'll just keep taking my photos from the roof of Starlight Tower on the 4th of July. It seems pretty clear to me from those photos that the Upham Beach geotubes are working like a champ, but take a look and decide for yourself.
