Diligence and Ardor

Charleston District
Published Aug. 5, 2015
The Charleston District is currently working with Coastal Carolina University in searching for a new sand source for future beach renourishments on Folly Beach and for emergencies.

The Charleston District is currently working with Coastal Carolina University in searching for a new sand source for future beach renourishments on Folly Beach and for emergencies.

The Charleston District is currently working with Coastal Carolina University in searching for a new sand source for future beach renourishments on Folly Beach and for emergencies.

The Charleston District is currently working with Coastal Carolina University in searching for a new sand source for future beach renourishments on Folly Beach and for emergencies.

“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought after with ardor and attended to with diligence.” Abigail Adams wrote this in a letter to her husband, President John Adams, in 1780.

Abigail Adams’ famous quote has certainly stood the test of time and is just as important today as it was back then.

The Charleston District holds this same value true and has once again entered into a partnership that offers an opportunity for an area professor and his students to be able to become passionate about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Coastal Carolina University offers just the type of partnership the Corps was looking for in its search for an additional sand source for future beach renourishments and in case of emergencies. Coastal Carolina professor Dr. Paul Gayes and a graduate student interested in gaining practical research experience will be helping the Corps refine their vibracoring plan to access and validate sand resource potential for future beach renourishment projects, like the one completed on Folly Beach in 2014. Vibracoring allows scientists to study layers of ocean subfloor sediment dating back to prehistoric times. This gives the District a great idea of what types of material lies on the ocean floor, and in what areas, when planning where sand will come from for future renourishments.

The areas identified for vibracoring were recommended from a study done by Coastal Carolina and the U.S. Geological Survey in 2002. A new area has been identified by the District where comprehensive geophysical survey would greatly aid their efforts to find suitable sand resources for upcoming emergencies and renourishments of Folly Beach. The additional survey data will provide new vibracoring locations offshore in an effort to maximize opportunities for additional sand resources.

The District has previously partnered with Coastal Carolina’s scientists on critical environmental issues, having utilized their remarkable expertise on the Post 45 Harbor Deepening Feasibility Study. Coastal Carolina has completed extensive geophysical work in the Charleston region, from habitat mapping to framework geology studies to sand resource assessment.

Coastal Carolina, located in Conway, S.C., is home to the Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetlands Studies. Led by Dr. Gayes, the center was established in 1988 and it facilitates basic and applied research within the school of Coastal and Marine Systems Science. Under Dr. Gayes, the Center has earned an international reputation for the scope and quality of its research and the innovative technical equipment it has developed.

To accomplish the work, Coastal Carolina will use their new research vessel, the Coastal Explorer, which was specifically designed to support the considerable geophysical instrumentation suite needed for the center’s extensive research projects. The 54-foot aluminum boat is set up with six research workstations. Its water systems have a saltwater line piping water from the ocean to the cabin in order to analyze the water quality. There is also a winching system able to accommodate an 8,000-pound lift capacity for deploying heavy research equipment.

Diligently engaging students as part of their academic training in the collection, processing and interpretation of real world geophysical data is at the heart of our STEM partnerships as the Charleston District arduously continues working with students of all ages.