September 2009 Bethany Beach shoreline relief illustrating the predominant dune structure at about 16 feet ASL: (1) Ocean View Parkway, (2) 2nd St., (3) Garfield Parkway, (4) Parkwood St., & (5) Wellington Parkway.  (data courtesy USACE)

The impact of the November 2009 northeaster storms on the Bethany Beach, DE coastline.  This northeaster removed about 158 K tons of sand, primarily from the dune area (about 109  K cubic yards of structure).  

A goal of the analysis of coastal processes has been to examine the change in morphology of beach structures, modeling wave action on coastal erosion using analytical and numerical approaches, and assessing the risk to existing beach configurations due to storm damage.

December 2009 Bethany Beach shoreline relief illustrating the dune structure reduced from the September heights: (1) Ocean View Parkway, (2) 2nd St., (3) Garfield Parkway, (4) Parkwood St., & (5) Wellington Parkway.  (data courtesy USACE)