Tybee Island Spends $20 Million on Sand: Why Is Coastal Maintenance Getting More Expensive?
Tybee Island Spends $20 Million on Sand: Why Is Coastal Maintenance Getting More Expensive?
English Version
Beach sand may look inexpensive when measured by the truckload. But when an entire coastline needs to be restored, the cost can quickly reach millions of dollars.
Tybee Island, Georgia, provides a recent example.
In September 2026, the City of Tybee Island announced that a $20 million beach nourishment project had secured its full funding package. The project is planned to place approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sand along the shoreline to address coastal erosion. The federal government is providing $12 million, while Tybee Island is responsible for $8 million.
So why does maintaining a beach require so much money?
The answer is not simply the price of sand.
The real cost includes finding suitable sand, dredging or sourcing it, transporting it, pumping it onto the beach, placing it according to an engineering design, obtaining permits, protecting the environment and repeating the process when erosion removes the material again.
1. The $20 Million Is Not Simply the Price of Sand
One important point should be clarified first.
When people say that Tybee Island is “spending $20 million on sand,” this does not mean the city is paying $20 million simply to purchase 1.3 million cubic yards of loose sand.
The $20 million represents the overall beach nourishment project cost.
The project involves a large-scale marine construction operation, including:
• Sand-source investigation
• Dredging
• Hydraulic pumping
• Submerged pipelines
• Beach placement
• Construction equipment
• Mobilization and demobilization
• Environmental management
• Permitting and project engineering
• Shoreline grading and placement
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2026 environmental assessment describes the planned construction using a hydraulic cutterhead pipeline dredge, a submerged pipeline from the borrow area to Tybee Island, and temporary toe dikes to control hydraulic effluent and turbidity.
In other words, the sand itself is only one part of the total cost.
2. Why Does Tybee Island Need 1.3 Million Cubic Yards of Sand?
A beach is not a fixed structure.
Waves, tides, currents and storms constantly move sediment along and away from the shoreline.
When erosion removes more sediment than natural processes can replace, the beach becomes narrower and the protective sand volume decreases.
Tybee Island has therefore used beach nourishment repeatedly over several decades.
Historical data compiled by the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines records nine nourishment episodes at Tybee Island from 1976 through 2020, involving more than 10.4 million cubic yards of sand and approximately $60.6 million in historical project costs. When adjusted for inflation, the recorded total is substantially higher.
This illustrates an important characteristic of beach nourishment:
Beach nourishment is often a recurring maintenance process rather than a one-time construction project.
3. Sand Does Not Stay Where You Put It
One of the biggest reasons coastal maintenance can become expensive is that newly placed sand does not remain permanently in exactly the same location.
After nourishment, waves and currents redistribute the material.
Some sand may move:
• Along the shoreline
• Offshore
• Toward adjacent beach sections
• Into nearshore bars
• Into tidal channels
This means that even after a major nourishment project has been completed, the beach can gradually lose its engineered profile.
Tybee Island's new project is therefore not simply about creating a larger beach once. It is part of a broader shoreline-management strategy addressing ongoing erosion.
4. Storms Can Accelerate Beach Erosion
Normal wave action causes gradual sediment movement.
Major storms can produce much faster changes.
Storm surge, high waves and strong currents can remove large quantities of sand from dunes and beaches within a relatively short period.
This creates a difficult economic situation:
Build Beach → Storm Erosion → Lose Sand → Restore Beach → Repeat
The larger and more exposed the shoreline, the more expensive this cycle can become.
Tybee Island has also identified severe erosion at parts of North Beach. In a 2025 city update, the city attributed heavy dune scarping in one area to a combination of shipping-channel deepening, jetty construction, storm action and ship wake, while estimating about $500,000 for short-term dune sand addition.
This shows that erosion is not always caused by one single factor.
5. Finding Suitable Sand Is Also a Challenge
Not every type of sand can simply be placed on a beach.
Beach nourishment material generally needs to meet project-specific compatibility requirements.
Factors can include:
• Grain size
• Grain shape
• Color
• Composition
• Environmental suitability
• Compatibility with existing beach material
The source of the sand is therefore an important part of the engineering process.
For Tybee Island's planned shoreline protection project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identifies an offshore borrow area as the source for the nourishment material.
As suitable borrow sites become more difficult or expensive to access, the cost of obtaining and transporting compatible sand can increase.
6. Pumping Millions of Cubic Yards of Sand Is a Major Engineering Operation
Moving 1.3 million cubic yards of sand is completely different from transporting sand by truck.
For large-scale beach nourishment, dredging equipment extracts compatible material and pumps a mixture of sand and water through pipelines.
The material is then distributed along the shoreline according to the engineering design.
For the current Tybee Island project, USACE estimates approximately 65 days of construction for the first nourishment cycle, subject to permits and dredging schedules.
The operation requires:
• Large dredging equipment
• Pipeline systems
• Pumping systems
• Marine support equipment
• Shoreline construction equipment
• Skilled operators
• Environmental monitoring
• Project management
These factors all contribute to the final project cost.
7. Environmental Requirements Add to Project Complexity
Modern beach nourishment projects must also consider environmental requirements.
Construction timing and methods may be restricted to reduce impacts on sensitive coastal habitats and wildlife.
For example, the current Tybee Island project is planned outside the sea turtle nesting and hatching season, which the USACE environmental assessment identifies as November 1 through April 30.
Environmental requirements can affect:
• Construction windows
• Dredging locations
• Sand placement
• Turbidity control
• Equipment operation
• Monitoring
• Permitting
These requirements are essential parts of responsible coastal engineering, but they also add planning and construction complexity.
8. Why Is Coastal Protection Getting More Expensive?
Tybee Island's experience highlights several factors that can push coastal maintenance costs higher.
1. Larger quantities of sand
More severe or persistent erosion may require larger nourishment volumes.
2. Higher marine construction costs
Dredging, fuel, vessels, pumps, pipelines and specialized equipment all contribute to project costs.
3. More complicated permitting
Coastal projects must meet increasingly detailed environmental and engineering requirements.
4. Limited suitable sand sources
Compatible sand is not available everywhere.
5. Long transportation distances
The farther the borrow site is from the beach, the more expensive pumping and transportation can become.
6. Repeated nourishment
If erosion continues, the beach may require additional nourishment in the future.
This is why the lifecycle cost of coastal protection can be much more important than the initial construction cost.
9. Does Beach Nourishment Solve Coastal Erosion Permanently?
Generally, beach nourishment should not be viewed as a permanent solution.
It adds sediment to the coastal system and can restore beach width and volume, but the material remains subject to natural sediment transport.
The appropriate maintenance interval depends on:
• Wave climate
• Storm frequency
• Tidal conditions
• Longshore sediment transport
• Beach geometry
• Sand characteristics
• Shoreline exposure
• Local coastal processes
Therefore, project owners should evaluate not only:
“How much does it cost to add sand?”
but also:
“How much will it cost to maintain the beach over 10, 20 or 50 years?”
10. Can Geotextile Tubes Reduce Coastal Maintenance Requirements?
Geotextile tubes are not a universal replacement for beach nourishment.
However, in some coastal engineering projects, they can be used as part of a broader erosion-control or beach-construction system.
For example, a high-strength UV-resistant Geo Tube can be used to create:
• Temporary cofferdams
• Beach construction platforms
• Artificial beach foundations
• Sand containment structures
• Shoreline stabilization structures
• Artificial island boundaries
• Dredged-material containment areas
Instead of relying only on repeated placement of loose sand, engineers can sometimes use geotextile structures to help control, contain or support sediment within a designed area.
The appropriate solution depends on site conditions, wave energy, sediment transport, foundation conditions and project objectives.
11. Geotextile Tubes for Beach Construction
For resort and island projects, Geo Tubes can have a particularly useful role during the construction stage.
For example:
Step 1 — Prepare the Foundation
The construction area is surveyed and prepared.
Step 2 — Install Geo Tube
The high-strength geotextile tube is positioned according to the design.
Step 3 — Pump Sand or Suitable Fill
Sand-water slurry or suitable fill material is pumped into the tube.
Step 4 — Dewatering
Water passes through the geotextile fabric while the solid material remains inside.
Step 5 — Consolidation
The contained material gradually consolidates and forms a stable structure.
Step 6 — Beach Construction
Additional compatible beach sand can then be placed according to the final beach design.
This approach can be considered for artificial beaches, resort beach construction, island development and other projects where controlling the position of fill material is important.
12. What Can Coastal Project Owners Learn from Tybee Island?
The Tybee Island case provides several practical lessons for coastal developers, resort owners and engineering contractors.
Lesson 1: Sand is a resource, not an unlimited material.
The availability, quality and transportation of compatible sand directly affect project costs.
Lesson 2: Beach construction requires lifecycle planning.
The initial nourishment cost is only one part of long-term coastal maintenance.
Lesson 3: Erosion should be assessed before construction.
Understanding wave conditions, currents, sediment movement and shoreline changes can help engineers select an appropriate solution.
Lesson 4: Combining solutions may be more practical than relying on one method.
Beach nourishment, dunes, geotextile structures and other coastal engineering measures can potentially be used together depending on the site.
Lesson 5: Early engineering planning matters.
The sooner erosion risks are identified, the more options may be available before emergency repairs become necessary.
13. HOKBG Geo Tube Solution
HOKBG provides high-strength UV-resistant Geo Tubes for marine and environmental engineering projects.
Depending on project requirements, HOKBG Geo Tube fabric can be designed with tensile strengths from approximately 35–250 kN/m.
Typical applications include:
• Geotextile Tubes for Beach Nourishment Projects
• Geotextile Tubes for Resort Beach Construction
• Artificial Island Cofferdams
• Land Reclamation
• Dredging and Sludge Dewatering
• Coastal Engineering
• Subsea Cable and Pipeline Protection
• Temporary Marine Construction Platforms
For coastal projects, the objective is not simply to add more material.
The key is to determine where the material needs to go, how it will behave under waves and currents, and how the shoreline will be maintained over time.
Welcome to contact me for Geo Tube specifications, coastal engineering solutions, beach construction projects and customized technical recommendations.
Conclusion
Tybee Island's planned $20 million beach nourishment project demonstrates the scale and complexity of modern coastal maintenance.
The project will place approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sand along the shoreline, with $12 million in federal funding and $8 million from Tybee Island.
But the most important lesson is not simply that “sand is expensive.”
The bigger issue is that coastal erosion is a continuous process.
Sand must be sourced, transported, pumped, placed, monitored and eventually replaced when natural processes move it away.
For this reason, coastal property owners, resort developers and marine contractors should look beyond the initial price of beach nourishment and evaluate the long-term lifecycle cost of shoreline management.
In some projects, combining beach nourishment with engineered sediment-containment or stabilization measures such as geotextile tubes may provide another option to consider.
