Chapter 3 discusses the ways foredunes can be built by human actions in locations where they have been eliminated. Alternative strategies for foredune development are reviewed including (1) using beach nourishment to provide a beach with sediment sizes that can be reworked by waves and winds; (2) constructing dunes by using earth-moving equipment to place fill sediment derived from external source areas, such as offshore borrow areas, navigation channels, or inland deposits; (3) using in-situ beach sand using earth-moving equipment (termed grading or scraping); (4) deploying sand-trapping fences; (5) planting vegetation; and (6) using a combination or multiple of these strategies. Time and space are critical to the evolution of landforms and vegetation gradients on developed coasts, and choice of techniques for dune building are evaluated under these constraints. The case is made that once newly built foredunes achieve their protective function, they should be allowed to evolve as naturally functioning environments to the extent allowable.

Chapter 9 addresses research questions for issues related to restoring degraded beach/dune systems. The case is made that restoration is not just a two-stage process that should only be evaluated by comparing before/after conditions but a series of ongoing changes in human and natural processes. Many restoration actions must be episodic to be successful in the long term, and managers should be able to address negative aspects through adaptive management. Viewing developed coasts as a coupled nature–human system offers new insight to the types of restoration outcome that can develop, but further research is warranted and a wider range of implementable designs will be needed in the future. Research questions addressed here include ones that are generic and broad scale; ones that are more site specific and applicable to individual projects; ones that address negative side effects; ones that are research oriented; and ones that are intended to guide managers.