Public Beach Assessment Report Gloucester Point Public Beach, Gloucester County, Virginia

Gloucester Point Public Beach is located at the southern end of Gloucester County, Virginia on the York River. It is a southeastward facing shoreline about 960 ft long and it is part of a larger stretch of moderately low shore between Sarah Creek and the George P. Coleman Bridge. While no shoreline improvement projects have taken place at the public beach, shore protection projects updrift and including the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) affect it. In 1983, erosion along the shoreline at VIMS just updrift of the public beach led to the installation of a riprap revetment in front the seawall and the placement of 10,000 cubic yards ( cy) of sand. A severe northeaster in November 1985 damaged the public beach and its facilities. Sand had to be bulldozed from the upland region at the public beach. In addition, an artificial dune was shaped, fenced, and planted. 500 cy of sand was placed at the VIMS. The Coleman Bridge widening project has greatly influenced the shoreline. The old boat ramp, located directly under the bridge, became inaccessible so a new boat ramp was constructed closer to the public beach where it has acted as a groin. The purpose of this report is to assess the rates and patterns of change at the public beach. Field survey data, aerial photos, wave climate analysis and computer modeling were analyzed for this report. RCPWA VE, a wave hydrodynamic model developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and modified by VIMS was used to model wave patterns