First heard out about this in the WSB Forums – new sand added to Alki Beach by the Parks Department caused problems for beach users, particularly volleyball players. Parks’ Joelle Hammerstad tells WSB they did indeed get many complaints because the sand was “too rough,” so they will “screen” the sand – and will replace if that turns out to be necessary. Read the entire thread in the Forums here.
This is typical of what every public office does with out money……….WASTE IT. It would have not taken any time to talk to the users to find out what THEY would like, as THEY are the ones paying for this.
TYPICAL WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY !! NOTHING UNUSUAL THERE………Just look at what the parks’ dept. is doing to the perfectly fine junction park on 42-43 and Alaska streets…….perfectly fine park, if they would have just added a few trees and benches………but no………look at how they like to spend/waste the funds.
umm… I don’t know that this was a ‘waste’ of money. It sounds like the vendor hired to haul in the new sand screwed up, and the city is making the vendor fix it by screening or hauling in new sand. (in the forum, the info released said the city would work with the vendor to recoup costs.)
Can you please clarify what you mean by ‘asking the users what they would like’ in this situation? I’m fairly certain people would want nice, clean sand on the beach… unless you feel like the public would want it paved?
Are they going to screen sections or the whole beach? As in searching for gold in water? Wow.
If you read the Parks response I posted in the Forum thread, they dumped 100 yards of sand. So I imagine that limits the area. Drove by a little while ago to look for any sign of “screening,” didn’t see it, so I’m not sure of their timetable … TR
I think they run a machine over the area that can screen particles of a certain size. I have seen it running on the beach a couple of times a summer.
It usually screens out beach debris and beach fire remnants.
They can’t and won’t screen 100 cubic yards of sand that is already on the beach. Think about it 100 cubic yards is about seven dump truck loads.
It needs to be removed and replaced with the quality sand that the city specified in the first place. But as usual the city will work out some sort of a deal and let the guilty party off the hook.
WS Will posted info that I did not know about while I was typing. I hope the screening works. However there are screening gradations for sand and if the supplied sand does not meet specs for fineness, I stand by my original post.
More importantly, where did this “sand” come from? That is the critical point. In construction projects one often has to test the sand not only for fineness, but the presence of debris, or provide analytical data showing what is in it. The OP said the sand contained “…concrete chunks, glass, garbage, large rocks, gravel, wood chunks, plants, and animal feces.” In my opinion this is solid waste at best, and not even “clean fill” and it is a stretch to be calling it sand. Screening to remove the gravel sized chunks doesn’t make it not waste. I am surprised the City would take on liability for this.
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What about the metals like lead, copper, and zinc? Asbestos? Bacteria? WA state regulations are very very strict at what can be disposed of in ecologically-sensitive areas, or areas where children are potentially exposed.
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The only material that should be used on a beach is fresh quarry sand or tested dredge spoils. Not material that contains concrete, glass, or gravel. This tells you the source is shady and good luck getting someone to vouch for it. I got a hole in West Seattle to sell you if if you believe this is “sand”.
Parks was out this morning with their machine cleaning the sand nearest the beach house.
Until this is resolved..I recommend Vibram five finger shoes. It’s the closest thing to being barefoot.
They are pretty cool in the sand. You just have to deal with some sand that gets in there every once and awhile.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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