FIGURE 3-17 Overtopping of stone revetment on south side of James River in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Top of structure is at 2 meters (approx. +8 feet) MLW. Note significant bank scarping due to Hurricane Isabel when the combination of storm surge and wave runup reached 4 meters (approx. +12 feet) MLW. The structure and upper bank face are still intact.

SOURCE: Hardaway et al., 2005. Courtesy of VIMS.

A homeowner lives on a 200-ft waterfront parcel on a tidal creek. The shorefront consists of a narrow beach backed by a 10-ft high eroding bank. No buildings are immediately threatened but with every northeaster the homeowner loses about a foot of land. The neighbor on the right (Neighbor R), south and downstream of the homeowner, has a wood bulkhead and graded bank. The neighbor on the north side (Neighbor L) has a similar shorefront as the homeowner, but with less erosion on the upstream side where the bank is fronted by a marsh fringe (see Figure 3-20). The homeowner decides to investigate options for stemming the erosion of her property and hires a consultant. The consultant analyzes the site conditions and offers the 4 options described below.

The shoreline is on a slight headland that is exposed to the northeast. To the north and southeast, the fetch is less than a mile, but the northeast opens to a sound, about 3.0 miles across to the facing shore.