Floating an idea to keep beaches from eroding | HeraldTribune.com

There might be a lighter, quicker, cheaper way to beach renourishment that would eliminate the current dredge and fill operations being performed by many coastal communities. Click title for link.

They credit Englewood resident Dick Holmberg for coming up with "an undercurrent stabilizer system" that reportedly has proven effective on about 100 miles of coastline, most notably in Saudi Arabia and the Great Lakes.
Their concept, which they call the Venice Beach Renourishment System, is a variation of Holmberg's model they think could be less expensive.
Holmberg's system involves geotextile tubes that are filled with cement and submerged. The tubes essentially serve as "speed bumps" for currents that otherwise would sweep sand away. When the speed of the current is reduced, sand particles suspended in the current are less affected by its velocity and drop to the sea bottom.