While not dead in the water just yet, the proposed $5.7 million reef to make longer-lasting surfing waves and to blunt beach erosion won't bring enough of an economic benefit to pay for itself, Coastal Tech concluded.

But another consultant, the one that designed the proposed reef and also contributed to Coastal's study, has called the firm's conclusions way off base.

 

The V-shaped reef, made from sand-filled geotextile bags, would cost about $5.7 million to build, plus almost $1 million in design, permitting and ongoing monitoring.Okay the reef will be in 18 feet of water and rise up to 15 feet, and that puts about 3 foot of water on top of it.(The Physics of Surfing ) In order for a wave to break, there must be less than a 120-degree angle between the front and back face, and the wave doesn't get steep enough until it approaches shallower water. What happens in shallow water is this: the motion of the bottom of the wave is impeded by friction with the ocean floor while the top section of the wave continues to move, relatively unimpeded. It therefore "outruns" the lower part of the wave, forcing the front face to steepen until the top layers cascade over the edge. Waves generally break when the ocean depth falls below about 1.3 times the wave-face's height.So like any other sandbar it's only going to work on a relatively small swell coming from the right direction on the right tide. 5.7 million for sandbags, you've got to be kidding me.On those smaller days that it's working the place will be packed with kooks running over each other then they'll higher lifeguards and blackball the beach and give it to the tourist for boogie boarding. Just let the ocean take its course. For you people that are living just south of the Cape sell your property to the state, because that muck that they dump on your beach is killing the rock reef to the south,it's all covered up, so much for federal protection.