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This one is a 7 foot hole on a NC beach.... https://www.wmbfnews.com/2022/05/19/...as-town-warns/
Officials in a North Carolina town on the Outer Banks are pleading with beachgoers to think twice before digging deep holes on the beach.
They posted a warning on Facebook on Tuesday just hours before a man died at a New Jersey beach when a hole collapsed on him.
The town of Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks posted a picture of ocean rescue supervisor David Elder standing in a large hole that he said was as much as 7 feet deep.
This one is a 7 foot hole on a NC beach.... https://www.wmbfnews.com/2022/05/19/...as-town-warns/
Officials in a North Carolina town on the Outer Banks are pleading with beachgoers to think twice before digging deep holes on the beach.
They posted a warning on Facebook on Tuesday just hours before a man died at a New Jersey beach when a hole collapsed on him.
The town of Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks posted a picture of ocean rescue supervisor David Elder standing in a large hole that he said was as much as 7 feet deep.
I never knew this deep-hole digging was such a thing.
That's always so sad to hear. Sand and snow. It happens too often. It is so preventable. I wonder if any rules about holes were posted? If not, it is still the responsibility of the beach goers to find out what rules you need to follow while at the beach.
I once fell in a hole while I was playing with my dogs on the beach. I was so mad that whoever dug it just left it. I'm lucky I didn't break my ankle. It's illegal to dig a hole bigger than 2 feet hereor leave it unattended. You also have to refill it when you leave it. Maybe I'm wrong but I thought NJ had similar laws.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801
Lol, because talking about leaving holes unattended on beaches in VA is like, ya know, off-topic.
But OK, now I am curious as to whether we have a law like that, too. Going to ask on the NJ forum and see if anyone knows.
But it's not. You pulled that out of the middle of my sentence. I stated 3 illegal actions here. The first being the size of the hole. Not that it was left unattended like you keep saying. For the 3rd time, I thought, that the Jersey law might be the same as Va Beach. Still not getting that answer, I'm also curious if it's the same at that beach. I could guess, google, etc. but I would only be guessing, unlike here, where I actually know what the law/rules are because I actually live at this beach.
Having dug many holes in beach sand as a kid myself, its hard to imagine those kids successfully digging a vertical pit 10 foot deep in the first place. There's only so deep you can go and still be able to get the discarded sand out of the way. Sand holes tend to get narrower in diameter the deeper you go, but in order to be successful, they need to get larger.
Unless the sand was quite wet (so it tends to stick together) and fine grained, the sides would usually collapse on their own before they got that deep unless the diameter of the hole was also pretty large. As for climbing out of it, once again, if the diameter of the hole was large, the slope of the sides would be shallower, so getting out of it wouldn't be that difficult. The grain size and texture of different layers of sand on a beach isn't completely uniform.
Its possible the kids dug until they reached a layer of wetter, finer grained, or more densely packed sand deep down, and then started digging laterally forming more of a tunnel instead of a pit. Unfortunately, digging into that layer of wet sand destabilized it, partially because of the digging itself, and because it got exposed to warmth and air. Beach sand on the surface dries out much faster than sand underneath and loses its adhesion, which is why its so loose.
Ah, thank you--I was totally thinking 10 feet vertical; yeah, that would be pretty impressive. Yeah, it makes more sense that it probably turned into like a tunnel. And I read in the article that those sand tunnels can cave in. Gosh, that's awful what happened. I've never done anything like that before, but I can see where you wouldn't think it would be a problem. Hopefully more warnings about these things gets out there, to spare further people any grief.
But it's not. You pulled that out of the middle of my sentence. I stated 3 illegal actions here. The first being the size of the hole. Not that it was left unattended like you keep saying. For the 3rd time, I thought, that the Jersey law might be the same as Va Beach. Still not getting that answer, I'm also curious if it's the same at that beach. I could guess, google, etc. but I would only be guessing, unlike here, where I actually know what the law/rules are because I actually live at this beach.
Enough. Anyone else can read these posts and follow the conversation for themselves.
As far as the question about the law goes, when I get an answer, I'll let you know.
Elsewhere
Lifeguards and officials from Shore towns have long warned beachgoers about the danger of digging deep holes in unstable sand.
In Belmar, one of the Shore towns that has an ordinance that prevents beach goers from digging deep holes, Chief Lifeguard Harry Harsin said he wants everyone to be aware of the dangers.
The ordinance prohibits the digging of a hole in the sand deeper than 12 inches. If anyone is seen digging one that appears deeper, lifeguards are required to tell them to stop.
“For the towns that don’t have an ordinance enacted already, I think it would be wise for them to do so,” Harsin said.
At one of our tourist attractions, we have some cliffs that have multi-coloured sand. I remember as a child, that regularly, while on holiday, there would be reports of deaths from cliff collapses, caused by tourists digging out the coloured sand. Digging has been banned now.
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