Get StormSmart Properties Fact Sheet 6. StormSmart Properties Fact Sheet 6

Wind fences are used primarily to build frontal ocean dunes (to control erosion from wave overwash and flooding). Sand fences can also be used to prevent sand from blowing off disturbed areas onto roads or adjacent property.

The fence catches and holds both sand and snow, allowing the drifts to build up along the fence line so that public works crews can get heavy machinery in those areas to clear the roads. That way, emergency services and the homeowners can get to their homes.

A sand fence or sandbreak, similar to a snow fence, is a barrier used to force windblown, drifting sand to accumulate in a desired place.

Sand fencing on a beach or dune can assist in building a new foredune or fill gaps in dune ridges. The fence reduces local wind speed and traps sand, with different fence configurations creating different dune forms and heights.

Sand fencing on a beach or dune can assist in building a new foredune or fill gaps in dune ridges. The fence reduces local wind speed and traps sand, with different fence configurations creating different dune forms and heights.

Snow fences are designed to prevent snow from drifting across the highway. Made from aluminum or sometimes steel, the snow fences work because they create a disturbance in the wind, which then causes the snow to drop from the air in front of the fence, as opposed to other areas (like on the highway).

This type of structural fencing can increase erosion issues because: 1) the larger the posts used in a sand fencing project, the greater the level of erosion around the posts; 2) the fence acts as a physical barrier that interferes with the natural flow of sediment along the shoreline, particularly when this fencing is ...