Shared on behalf of 41°N, Rhode Island’s Ocean and Coastal Magazine, a publication of Rhode Island Sea Grant and the Coastal Institute at the University of Rhode Island.

Author – Meredith Haas

Rhode Island is the second most densely populated state and it’s 420 miles of coastline is crowded with residents, tourists and businesses. Rate of erosion and sea level rise, and the effects of coastal storms and flooding are making the landscape smaller than ever.

Robert Fairbanks, a Rhode Island based Engineer who designs and constructs hard structures to protect coastal properties says that “Everything is temporary.” Fairbanks explains that if built correctly, barriers can protect an area for only an extended period of time.

Rhode Island has a near-ban on the construction of new shoreline protection measures on the southern coast. Preexisting structures may be maintained but cannot expand. Rhode Island residents don’t understand. Grover Fugate, CRMC Executive Director, said “You can have a wall or a beach, but you can’t have both.”

Read the full article here