Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
This and That
sKePTiKal:
Slightly different - but same principle - is the concept known as "beach replenishment" in OBX.
There, they dredge up ocean floor sand to widen beaches that have shrunk to the point of being drowned at high tide. They started in Nags Head, and that has lasted a while; perhaps because re- and over-built Jennette's Pier usess concrete piers. Isabel, is the storm that took that pier out, I believe. Aquarium donors and public fundraising got that rebuilt.
In Kitty Hawk, it's a bit different story. The ocean front cottages are smaller; date back to 30s through 60s. That beach mostly eroded from the other direction due to Nor'easters (the sand all went to Nags Head - LOL). During a good high tide, the breakers would under the cottages; during storms - NC 12 would be under water. The intersection by Hurricane Mo's and the Black Pelican was washed out and replaced 3 times the last couple years I was there. Mother Nature clearly wants the Post Office (on the same side road facing the Bypass) to be ocean front. That will complicate one of the worst traffic bottlenecks anywhere on the beach. Just a half-mile north is the main junction to Duck Rd heading to the north beaches... and the escape route over the Wright Memorial bridge.
In Irene, it was the soundside that took a hit - and yes, it's had a repeat hit at least once.
There is no stopping the force of all that water, no matter WHAT you try to do - unless you provide a way for the force of the water/wind to dissipate under the buildings. The oldest ones have holes drilled in the floor - so that the water doesn't life the cottage off the pilings.
So, with a sea wall... the concept is to protect the land from being washed away by the water. People assume that it's the breakers that is the leading edge of the destructive force. But I believe its the suction/flow of water below the surface that undermines the sand enough to more easily pull the surface out. That's what happens under your feet standing in the surf, right?
Most sea walls are no higher than the surface of your property. If they are higher; it's no more than a foot. But the pilings that hold it all in place need to be DEEP. Think iceberg. To preserve the integrity of the wall - there needs to be enough gaps between the vertical boards (treated to withstand salt water) to allow the force of the water to dissipate between them. You'll still notice subsidence of the sand on the property side over time... but minimally. Even concrete/rebar will take a beating and be destroyed from the bottom up, unless you give the water somewhere to go - to mitigate the impact of the force of the waves.
So that's the general engineering idea. With that in mind, perhaps you'll be better able to choose a design and communicate with that contractor a little better. Do be aware that as storms get more extreme (we're entering an official solar minimum phase) Mother Nature is going to have her way with anything man-made and there's not a blessed thing any of us can do about it. Heard on the weather this morning, that NDakota is buried under 2 feet of snow today. Sounds late in the year for that, but not according to winters I remember as a kid. And the farmers will be grateful for the moisture, because it's the most they've gotten all winter. This will combine to shorten the growing season for wheat out there. I think the price of a loaf of bread is going to go up this year again.
lighter:
OK...Amber, I was trying to avoid an actual anxiety loope today.... but I'm in one.
You're right... if a direct hit on the island takes place.... the cottage can't be saved by any seawall. THAT, coupled with all the work, expense, and ENERGY to GET MATERIALS TO THE ISLAND.... along with 45% duty, unbelievably high shipping and landing fees.....what it takes to get any job done.....
sent me into a hot gut spiral.
I'm going to tap, and work myself back to center before picking the kids up from school.
I dread discussions about my father's estate. People can't agree on what to have for lunch.
One day of being brain dead in front of the tv.... or just sleeping..... would be so nice, but I have to call the customs guy, see how bad that is, then get ready to leave town again while my oldest needs to go prom dress, and roller derby skate shopping, which I would absolutely love to relax into right now..... something normal please. Oldest dd doesn't want to do these things with me.... she said she neeeeds to do it with her friends, and I don't see how I can make that happen right now, but it needs to happen soon, bc prom is around the corner.
Wow.... I have skills and tricks to stop this spiral, and I do remember them, but it's hard to remember before they land on my head, and attack my guts.
I have noticed I'm calmer with things that used to send me spinning. I have more patience. I have more ability to observe, and I give myself credit, but.... I notice a fleeting unrealistic expectation I'll suddenly perfectly be incommand of my emotions, and manage them, which is nuts. I'm practicing, getting better at it, but this is an ongoing, imperfect process. The growth IS in the mistakes. I have to remember that.
Sometimes I worry that my calm is dissociation, or shock.... sometimes it IS shock lately, but recovery is quicker, and ability to remain level is improving.
The journey continues.
Lighter
Hopalong:
Lighter, if you're fixing up the beach property to sell, why not let the new owner build the seawall?
Is there a reason it HAS to be you?
Hops
sKePTiKal:
Hops has a good point.
Oh, I AM sorry that's what you took from what I hoped was a helpful bit of information. You don't need that right now. I hope you get your calm place back soon. I live with the daily awareness that life itself - to say nothing of what we plant or build - is not permanent. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it helps me keep those kinds of panic attacks away...lowers my "perfection" bar to "good enough" and "what I want".
lighter:
Nooo, Amber... got so much more from it. In that moment, I had a very clear image of the completed house getting swept off the beach.... it took my breath away.
I'm feeling much better now..... heh.
I always feel like Sarah Connor's character when I say or write that. And I've written it a lot.
And.... the plan is to wait and see how I feel about the cottage before deciding what to build for a seawall. If I'm selling I'll build a less impressive, but good looking wall. If I want to keep it and hand it down to the kiddos.... a better wall will be built. Right now there's no emergency, though many people, native and non natives, are telling me the beach won't stand another hurricane season.... I don't think that's quite right.
I honestly think my immune system is frozen... deiciding what to do with me right now. I'm the kind of person who gets through crisis, then collapses for a bit.
I can help my grandfather cough up blood and lung and whatever else it was... then slide down walls when I leave the room, wondering how I did it. I see my own blood or get a shot and faint.
My breathing is all messed up. Not sure why.... maybe muscles around lungs lock up.... something about breathing under stress goes all whacka doo. Very familiar. I think that alone escalates anxiety.
And....
I'm feeling a better now; )
That is a scary thing, right there.... when "I'm feeling better now" comes up for me. I say it so people around me stop focusing on me... so they can feel at ease again, even though I'm focused on challenges ahead, and worry that I'll get through it. I don't know what it means... it's almost a challenge as it leaves me. Like.... I'll not let anyone help me through this, and I WILL get through this. It's an odd sort of thing when it comes up. I don't want to feel that way, or think that any longer. I want to be able to give and receive help without it bringing up old stuff..... stuck stuff.
I want to not feel pressed or strung out alone or like I have to protect everyone around me from everything
all
the
time.
Anymore.
Maybe a good cry will set me right as rain.
::nodding::.
::sigh::.
I have to find a way to discharge the stress around recent violence... not against me, but in my presence. Human on human violence is one thing everyone, except ASPDs, are allergic to. I can tell you that it does terrible things to my physical and emotional health... things that surprise and astonish me always. I was raised in a home without violence. Experiencing it for the first time.... really experiencing it against me... was a shock that shut down my breathing and ability to eat... I lost 20 lbs in a month in 2007. The recent stuff is tied into that I think. I've put it aside in order to get through this month, but I have to just process it so it's not underneath all the other stress... heightening it.
Lighter
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