OUTER BANKS, N.C. — “The concept came from us really wanting to be able to protect our own hometown and our neighbors in our own backyard.”
Blayne Ross grew up in Jacksonville and understands the threat that erosion poses in coastal communities.
“Jacksonville has been washed out and then dredged and filled and then washed out year over year,” said Ross.
That’s where ShoreLock comes in, a sand-like product that the company shares has seen success helping restore shorelines in the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.
“It’s a powder that is made out of plant-based extracts that we are able to place into the beach at the high tide mark. It covers about from the high tide mark to the low tide mark as a protection area; it biodegrades over the course of six months,” said Ross.
The company is now looking to bring its product to the United States and is doing state reviews of where it might be able to do that, including North Carolina.
“We know that soft nourishment works; it’s essential. It’s important to protect infrastructure and people’s homes and communities, but what we don’t have is anything that helps keep the sand there. And so we look at this as another tool that’s in the toolbox of options that coastal engineers have to be able to support their projects,” said Ross.
ShoreLock recently presented to the Coastal Resources Advisory Council about the product. Bobby Outten, the Dare County manager but acting in his role as chair of the council, shared that presentation with the Coastal Resources Commission at their meeting in late March.
“It was interesting. I wrote down: it strengthens the beach, it’s nontoxic, it’s okay for turtles, it’s indistinguishable to the touch, it’s biodegradable, and it can increase the survival rate of your beach, sometimes by double,” said Outten.
It could also act as something to help extend the life of beach nourishment projects, both when it comes to the beach and the cost-effectiveness of it.
“In Dare County, we spend a lot of money on beach nourishment. And if you took a five-year project and turned it into a 10-year project, all of a sudden we just doubled our money right there for $500,000 a year per mile, so that would be huge for us,” said Outten.
“Even if we’re providing a minimal level of erosion mitigation, it’s when you look at what it actually costs for them to bring that sand in from somewhere else. Whether it’s trucked in or it’s been dredged in, it’s adding a layer that’s affordable, and it makes it saving taxpayer dollars, and that’s what this really all has to come down to,” said Ross.
Outten shared he assumes ShoreLock is something that isn’t allowed on North Carolina beaches right now, but staff will be coming back at their next meeting with more information on what the process would look like to look further into a potential project.
On the ShoreLock side, they are in the process of doing state reviews and haven’t selected an area where their first project might be.
“We don’t have a location yet or specific municipality. This is really us going through the regulatory processes to make sure that there’s no environmental impact and that we’re able to perform at least on a level at which we think we can—so super early on,” said Ross.
Ross said their intentions are clear: they want to help coastal communities.
“We have roads and highways and transportation routes that are across the country that are right next to beaches. The conversation really starts becoming, we need to protect that,” said Ross.
For more information on ShoreLock, head to its website here.
