Western Orange Beach

The shoreline along the western portion of Orange Beach has been receding since 1970.    This beach erosion and shoreline recession is probably due to trapping of sand by the engineering at Perdido Pass as described in the section on Alabama Point.  The total trapping is at least 3 million cubic yards of sand since 1968. 

The beaches of western Orange Beach are

eroding because of  Perdido Pass

Long-term erosion due to jetties typically is displaced some distance downdrift of the jetties, as it is in Orange Beach, due to the fillet formation as described in the section on Alabama Point.  At other jettied inlets of comparable size, the downdrift erosion begins to show up 1 to 4 miles from the jetty.  Essentially, the beaches of western Orange Beach (roughly all those west of the Cotton Bayou area access) are being starved for beach sand by the trapping at Perdido Pass. 

Now, one the primary recommendations of this report is that all the sand dredged from Perdido Pass in the future be pumped onto the beaches about two miles west of the Pass.  If this recommendation is not adopted soon, the beach erosion and shoreline recession will begin to undermine pool decks and the waves will wash against bulkheads more frequently.  In other words, the beach will be destroyed at it migrates back into the fixed structures.