The panhandle of Florida is known for its beautiful beaches and sugar white sands. Over the past few years the popular vacationing haven has been visited often by numerous unwanted guests – hurricanes!

Early in the 2005 season, the beachfront city of Destin encountered extreme damage from 3 named hurricanes and the high surf associated with the presence of storms. 

Local residents watched in grief as the beaches of Destin washed away. The sand dunes, which serve as a natural barrier against storm surge, were quickly being depleted and taken out to sea. Beach access walkways and swimming pools were being crushed by the waves and in many cases properties encountered structural undermining due to wave fetch. Sustaining damage to subsurface infrastructure, many of the residents found their properties condemned due to instability.

Costing individual property owners thousands of dollars, condominium associations purchased sand to replace what was lost. Sand used in Destin must meet Department of Environmental Quality standards and can reach prices higher than $30 per cubic yard.

Without a way to stabilize the new sand, residents watched there expensive investments wash away every time a storm approached the area. A product was needed to contain sand under the structure while providing a backbone of strength to the depleted sand dune. HESCO Concertainer units provided an amazingly strong formidable barrier compared to the more traditional methods of coastal protection.

Stair stepped designs reaching heights and widths of 16’ were installed into the core of the damaged sand dunes. The Concertainer units were filled, backfilled then covered with a 6’ cap of beach sand. Once completed the new dune provided the strength of a major seawall but maintained the natural dune appearance which is demanded by local and state codes.

HESCO Concertainer unit can be used to: stabilize a beach in front of a condominium, prevent serious erosion of expensive sand, prevent failure to elevated pool areas, stabilize depleted sand dunes or bluffs.