With its quiet roads, quaint restaurants, historically rich attractions, and more than 200 miles of barrier islands, North Carolina's coastline has long been a vacation destination for residents all up and down the East Coast.

Although the beaches are vital to North Carolina's economic development, evolving shorelines are creating issues for residents, businesses, and natural habitats. We are researching potential solutions to protect these shorelines that continue to cultivate a safe and enjoyable community for residents, tourists, and local habitats.

There are many potential solutions to the posed problems facing North Carolina's oceanfront shorelines. Asking the right questions can help to determine which solutions coastal communities should consider for implementation.

Can You Afford to do Nothing, Abandon, or Relocate Your Property?

Sometimes it's best to let nature do its work and allow shorelines to change naturally, but this requires available space for shorelines to move. This isn't always a bad thing, but if a shoreline is going to overtake a home, business, or roadway, then this potential strategy should be reevaluated.

Parking lots and football fields are just two examples of property types that can sometimes afford to be flooded and potentially destroyed. Allowing property to be destroyed without plans to reclaim or rebuild is considered "property abandonment." In allowing this to happen, shorelines also have the chance to naturally transform and move.

In order to protect and secure property, many homes and businesses close to the ocean are placed on stilts. Building these structures high off the ground is a method that attempts to prevent structural damages due to wave and surge energy.

How Can You Protect and Secure Property?

Of course, not all coastal infrastructure can afford to be moved or lost indefinitely. As opposed to adapting local infrastructure to changing shorelines, other solutions seek to keep shorelines intact and in their current location. Solutions often include replenishing and nourishing beach shorelines.

One relatively new technique involves installing geosynthetic tubing underneath dunes to serve as their structural foundation. Because the North Carolina's barrier islands often take the brunt of storms traveling the East Coast, dunes are frequently eroded and destroyed. By installing geosynthetic materials under dunes, infrastructure has a higher likelihood of remaining in place after a storm. Although there are potential drawbacks to using this type of technology—degradation if penetrated or exposed to the sun—the flip side is that it mimics Mother Nature.

For less exposed shorelines, developing oyster reefs close to these shorelines is another technique gaining popularity among coastal scientists and engineers. The idea is that oyster reef breakwaters will help decrease wave energy before waves hit the shore, while also providing habitat for oysters and other species.

While we may never be able to fully prevent shorelines from changing, it does remain our societal responsibly to make economically and environmentally friendly land use decisions. We work to research solutions that help local governments determine a course of action that will positively impact their residents, visitors, and local habitats.