Is it possible to turn a rocky beach into a sandy beach?

CM24 · 22-04-2018 8:10pm #1

So, the recent good weather got me thinking, it’s a pity Dublin doesn’t really have any nice sandy beaches (Not that I know about anyway).

I went to the “beach” near Dun Laoghaire pier last summer, but it’s not great, since there’s lots of big rocks around and the sand is covered in pebbles.

Is it possible to just extract all the rocks/pebbles? Or just dump a fresh layer of sand on top of the current one?

I know nothing about this process, so please enlighten me!

FingerDeKat · 22-04-2018 8:14pm

CM24 wrote: »

So, the recent good weather got me thinking, it’s a pity Dublin doesn’t really have any nice sandy beaches (Not that I know about anyway).

I went to the “beach” near Dun Laoghaire pier last summer, but it’s not great, since there’s lots of big rocks around and the sand is covered in pebbles.

Is it possible to just extract all the rocks/pebbles? Or just dump a fresh layer of sand on top of the current one?

I know nothing about this process, so please enlighten me!

At a guess I'd say currents would strip the sand away?

I holiday in Achaill Island and where I stay always had a rocky beach till a storm returned the sand.

http://achilltourism.com/achills-new-beach-sand-returns-to-dooagh-beach/

Chiorino · 22-04-2018 8:16pm

CM24 wrote: »

So, the recent good weather got me thinking, it’s a pity Dublin doesn’t really have any nice sandy beaches (Not that I know about anyway).

I went to the “beach” near Dun Laoghaire pier last summer, but it’s not great, since there’s lots of big rocks around and the sand is covered in pebbles.

Is it possible to just extract all the rocks/pebbles? Or just dump a fresh layer of sand on top of the current one?

I know nothing about this process, so please enlighten me!

Dollymount, Sutton burrow, Velvet strand Portmarnock all nice sandy beaches

Ultimate Seduction · 22-04-2018 8:17pm

It's done in lots of holiday resorts in Spain. Man made beaches are fairly common

wexie · 22-04-2018 8:17pm

I believe it can be done and some tourist areas have done it here and there (the canaries if I'm not mistaken, sure there are other places as well) but from what I remember its very expensive and requires constant maintenance. Certainly not a case of lets dump a heap of sand and that's it.

Harry Palmr · 22-04-2018 8:52pm

Sandy beaches are a moveable feast - they can disappear and reappear over the time a storm takes to move the sand from point A to point B. There is little point in trying to create one by moving sand manually as the shape of the coast combined with currents could mean it's gone in the space of a tide cycle or two that and the storms we get. You'd really have to engineer the water movement as well. Most fake sandy beaches are simply a gazzlion tonnes of concrete with a few feet of sand on top and these are in quiet places with rich customers and $1 a day workers.

Fathom · 26-04-2018 8:07pm

Possible solution? Examine tides and currents. Create an obstruction. Traps sand on calm side. See shoreline structures.

troyzer · 29-06-2018 2:12pm

Fathom wrote: »

Possible solution? Examine tides and currents. Create an obstruction. Traps sand on calm side. See shoreline structures.

Also known as Bull Island.

Black Swan · 03-07-2018 2:37pm

troyzer wrote: »

Also known as Bull Island.

Indeed. Bull Island was created 200 years ago due to the construction of the north bull wall to Dublin Port. It has sandy beaches that continue to grow.

Fathom · 04-07-2018 1:36am

Black Swan wrote: »

Indeed. Bull Island was created 200 years ago due to the construction of the north bull wall to Dublin Port. It has sandy beaches that continue to grow.

Worth visiting.

Victor · 04-07-2018 5:19am

Lots of beaches in Dublin, most of them sandy. You tend to find sandy beaches in bays and stony ones near headlands. http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/A3h Click 'run' if necesary. Link may not work on some phones.

The rocks in the Canaries are mostly volcanic and black, so the sands are black, which isn't what most tourists look for. So they add a layer of white / yellow sand every few years. There are exceptions, e.g. Fuerteventura has a vast sand dune system of yellow sand blown from the Sahara.

Timmaay · 04-07-2018 7:47am

It would be much easier just to bring a railway line straight to Brittas Bay. Not that I'm sure we want even more Dubs here at the min ha.

lawred2 · 04-07-2018 7:48am

CM24 wrote: »

So, the recent good weather got me thinking, it’s a pity Dublin doesn’t really have any nice sandy beaches (Not that I know about anyway).

I went to the “beach” near Dun Laoghaire pier last summer, but it’s not great, since there’s lots of big rocks around and the sand is covered in pebbles.

Is it possible to just extract all the rocks/pebbles? Or just dump a fresh layer of sand on top of the current one?

I know nothing about this process, so please enlighten me!

North Dublin has loads of sandy beaches

troyzer · 04-07-2018 7:56am

lawred2 wrote: »

North Dublin has loads of sandy beaches

I suspect the OP is a south sider, possibly from Sandymount, who has been told a la Simba in the Lion King to never journey beyond the river.

Avatar MIA · 04-07-2018 7:56am

lawred2 wrote: »

North Dublin has loads of sandy beaches

Sandymount has sandy beeches, I thought.

troyzer · 04-07-2018 8:03am

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Sandymount has sandy beeches, I thought.

Not really, it's a streak of piss only a few metres wide at anything other than low tide. Maybe 100 metres long at its biggest stretch, again depending on the tides. I imagine the OP is talking about a big beach like Portmarnock where several thousand people could go.

Fathom · 06-07-2018 3:59am

Victor wrote: »

Lots of beaches in Dublin, most of them sandy. You tend to find sandy beaches in bays and stony ones near headlands. http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/A3h Click 'run' if necesary. Link may not work on some phones.

Adds to Ireland visiting bucket list. Brings swim suit and towel.

Fathom · 15-07-2018 9:38pm

Storm Impacts and Vulnerability of Coastal Beaches

lawred2 · 16-07-2018 9:20am

Victor wrote: »

Lots of beaches in Dublin, most of them sandy. You tend to find sandy beaches in bays and stony ones near headlands. http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/A3h Click 'run' if necesary. Link may not work on some phones.

What tool is that? And what scripting language is that?

Victor · 16-07-2018 9:34am

lawred2 wrote: »

What tool is that?

It's called Overpass Turbo. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_turbo The data set is Open Street Map. https://www.openstreetmap.org/

And what scripting language is that?

I don't know, I just use the sites. This page https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API/Language_Guide says "Overpass API allows you to query for OSM data by your own search criteria. For this purpose, it has two specifically crafted query languages: Overpass XML, and Overpass QL."

iamwhoiam · 16-07-2018 9:41am

Chiorino wrote: »

Dollymount, Sutton burrow, Velvet strand Portmarnock all nice sandy beaches

Dollymount , Donabate , Rush , Skerries

Fathom · 16-07-2018 6:03pm

Newport Beach this weekend. Will look for how obstructions accumulate sand.

slowburner · 18-07-2018 10:59pm

Fathom wrote: »

Newport Beach this weekend. Will look for how obstructions accumulate sand.

Field work! Has to be done.

Fathom · 19-07-2018 7:29pm

slowburner wrote: »

Field work! Has to be done.

Doubt my sand castle trapped any additional sand.

dogmatix · 27-07-2018 12:26pm

Victor wrote: »

Lots of beaches in Dublin, most of them sandy. You tend to find sandy beaches in bays and stony ones near headlands. http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/A3h Click 'run' if necesary. Link may not work on some phones.

The rocks in the Canaries are mostly volcanic and black, so the sands are black, which isn't what most tourists look for. So they add a layer of white / yellow sand every few years. There are exceptions, e.g. Fuerteventura has a vast sand dune system of yellow sand blown from the Sahara.

Interesting tool. But it seems to indicate a natural sandy beach at Lough Tay in Wicklow – I always thought this beach was imported white sand, meant to contrast with the dark waters of the lough, like a pint of Guinness (luggala and lough Tay being owned by the Guinness family at the time). Pity it cannot be visited by the general public!

But being an artifical beach - it kind of fits in with the original thread heading.

Fathom · 27-07-2018 10:47pm

The more powerful the wave, the larger the pieces of sediment it can carry. Do beaches that exhibit more frequent and powerful waves have rockier beaches, if a beach exists?

Victor · 27-07-2018 11:04pm

I think it would vary. Erosion at one beach feeds the next beach up the coast.

That said, faster water carries more sand than slower water - this is the principle used to scour the channel in Dublin Bay and led to the formation of Bull Island.

Is it possible to turn a rocky beach into a sandy beach?

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