Sand Mining and Storm Damage

Beach sand mining has increased during the past few decades as river sand has gradually depleted causing several environmental problems. Beach/sea sand is not suitable for construction purpose as a replacement for river sand due to its salinity. The salinity in the sea sand can corrode steel reinforcements and cause structural failures if used in concrete. However the sea sand can be thoroughly washed to remove its salinity before using it for construction purposes. Due to this reason beach sand is mined increasingly in order to avert the environmental damage caused by mining river sand.
This is not a good solution because beach sand mining has its own harmful side effects. While most will agree that offshore mining is not very environmental friendly few realize that beach sand mining is as catastrophic. The sand on the beach and in the sea belong to one dynamic system. Removing sand from the beach therefore will disturb this balance.

image from http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/beach.htm

This is what a typical healthy beach looks like. Even the sand far away from the water are part of the beach. The dunes on a beach serve a purpose.

image from http://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/beach.htm

The above picture depicts the behaviour of the sand during a storm. Note how sand is borrowed from the fore dunes to create a bank below the sea level. This bank helps to break the waves and dissipate energy thus minimizing the damage caused by the storm.
So what would happen if the sand is carelessly removed from the beach? There wouldn't be a way for the beach to adapt during a storm. This will lead to severe inundation and damage.
The sand in a healthy beach undergoes a cycle known as the "beach cycle". The beach continuously adapts by moving sand and sediments and rebuilds itself after storm damage by itself. Removing sand from the beach could disturb this cycle and cause long term effects such as severe coastal erosion. This makes it necessary to explore alternative methods to mine sand. Deep sea sand mining, carried out far away from the coast could be a possible solution although its effects and impacts should be thoroughly assessed first.