by Scott L Douglass (University of South Alabama, USA)

The author visited over 400 American beaches while researching this book. Scott Douglass is a civil engineering professor that has studied beach erosion problems and solutions along all the nation's shores. He worked his way through college by lifeguarding on the Jersey shore, studied beaches for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Engineering Research Center, did laboratory investigations of how waves break on beaches for his Ph.D., and has consulted on coastal engineering projects throughout the country. He has written dozens of academic papers including many on the role of engineering in beach management. Douglass finds that even though we have been destroying some of our beaches with poor sand management decisions, good coastal engineering has saved many of the most popular beaches in America.
 

This book tells you where beach sand comes from, how waves are formed and how they break and move sand down the coast, how “works of man” have blocked this movement and caused beach erosion, and what can be done to save the beaches for future generations of Americans. A three-part prescription for healthy beaches is proposed: “backing off”, “bypassing sand”, and “beach nourishment”. So if you love waves and beaches, and care about the future of your favorite beach spot, then read this book while you enjoy the beach.

• Beaches — America's Longest Playgrounds
• Our Jeweled Necklace of Sand — The Geology of Beaches
• Surf's Up! — Waves and Their Effect on Beaches
• “Sand Thieves” of the Beach — How We Are Destroying Our Beaches
• “Designer Beaches” — Beach Nourishment Engineering
• The Prescription for Saving America's Beaches
• To Learn More About Beaches
• The “Fine Print” — Acknowledgements, Photo Credits, References