The Waikiki is a man made beach and is quickly eroding away. Because this beach was not natural it does not go naturally with where it is. The rising waters are continuously eroding away the sand that is always replaced there.
There have been many attempts to keep Waikiki beach but so far none have been efficient. Waikiki beach has had erosion problems since the late 1800s when buildings were built way to close the the shore, by 1950 more then 80 structures including seawalls, groins, piers and storm drains were counted. 10 sand replacement projects since 1939. 300,000 cubic yards of sand has been placed into Waikiki beach over the passed 77 years. In the present there have been many projects to keep the beach stable like the recovery of up to 24,000 cubic yards of sand from deposits located 1,500 to 3,000 feet off shore of the project are in a water depth of about 10 to 20 feet. Also pumping sand to an on shore dewatering site within the eastern Kuhio beach crib walls and the transport of sand bags along the shore in the project area.
The Waikiki beach is a very popular beach for tourists and if it were to go not maintained then that would be a 2 billion dollar loss in overall tourists money and a 150 million dollar loss in tax revenue and a job loss of 6,350 people. The beach is an economic necessity but there are some dangers. Erosion caused a cement slap to be exposed that is uneven with sharp edges with pieces of rusting re-bar which could be very dangerous to the people on the beach. There has been a 100 ft plastic chain to highlight the problem to keep people away but the chain is dangerous to surfers because they surf and they can not stop mid wave and sometimes crash into it.
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