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Concrete boxes put 'hex' on erosion at K.G. beach
New breakwaters put in at Fairview Beach
BY CARDEN HEDELT
Date published: 6/20/2008
BY CARDEN HEDELT
Doris Whitfield watched anxiously as a backhoe dropped eight concrete breakwaters into place in front of her Fairview Beach home yesterday.
Whitfield, 76, has watched the Potomac River creep closer to the house that her father built 70 years ago, powerless to keep the bank from eroding.
"That bank was at least 50 feet from the road in 1949," Whitfield said. "Now, it's not much more than 12 feet."
The breakwaters are the latest attempt by Whitfield and the King George County community to keep the banks from eroding further, putting houses, a road and a sewage line at risk.
"I don't even want to imagine what could happen if these new breakwaters don't work," Whitfield said. "We could have a real disaster on our hands."
In the past, Fairview Beach residents have put in rock groins and wooden jetties in attempts to save their shoreline from erosion.
But their efforts have been in vain, as the wooden jetties were undermined and the rock groins failed to slow erosion.
"Nothing has worked here like it was supposed to," Whitfield said. "It's been disheartening to see every attempt fail like it has."
But the new breakwaters offer hope to residents concerned about their property.
The breakwaters, called "hex boxes," are made of concrete.
They are designed to break the momentum of the waves while still allowing water to flow freely through holes in the boxes' sides.
The hex boxes are also cost-effective. According to Seament Shoreline Systems Vice President Warren Veazey, the eight 4-ton boxes do the same job as 320 tons of rock.
"With the hex boxes, it's a 10-hour job," Veazey said. "With rock, we would have used about 35 truckloads and we would have been out here for days."
Veazey, a King George resident, has installed 80 hex boxes in several locations on the Potomac in hopes of slowing erosion.
But he said that Fairview Beach was an urgent project for him.
"Fairview needs these breakwaters just about as bad as anywhere I've seen," Veazey said.
"I've seen banks getting close to houses, but you can move houses. You can't move roads or sewage lines. Who knows what could happen if another hurricane hit."
Whitfield will continue to keep an eye on the bank, hopeful that the breakwaters will keep it from eroding further.
"Fairview is a special place for me," Whitfield said. "I just hope we can figure this thing out before it's too late."
Carden Hedelt 540/374-5000, ext. 5658
Email: chedelt@freelancestar.com
Date published: 6/20/2008
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