Project: Smathers Beach Fillet Groins
Type: Coastal/Marine
Client: City of Key West, Florida
The principal purpose of a terminal groin is to minimize and control down-drift sediment losses and beach erosion by catching shifting sand along the shoreline. It is a long wall or hard structure extending into the ocean, mostly perpendicular to the coastline, and adjacent to the end of a coastal shore (land mass) or an inlet that is vulnerable to beach erosion.
Smathers Beach is prone to beach erosion due to its location and shape. The construction of four groins at Smathers Beach was completed during the spring of 2001. The groins were designed to hold sand within the shoreline and promote an even distribution of the sand along the 3,000 linear feet of the beach. Subsequently, G. M. Selby performed surveys and monitored the groins for several years as part of the Federal and State permit conditions, thus establishing that the groins are performing as designed. To this purpose, survey profile lines are established and surveyed along all the groins.
