The race for coastal projects in the country over the last six years envisions the use of an amount of sand equivalent to the volume of 12 Maracanãs for beach expansion. This strategy is currently the most advocated by oceanographers to mitigate coastal erosion. However, experts criticize its high implementation and maintenance costs, as well as highlight the existence of limited projects that may generate problems along the coastline in the future.
A survey conducted by Folha identified 24 large-scale interventions carried out between 2018 and 2023 or projected to take place in the coming years. In addition to beach nourishment, which gained national prominence after the works in Balneário Camboriú (SC) in 2021, there is also the construction of groins, rigid structures, usually made of stone, perpendicular to the beach to retain sand.
The use of beach nourishment techniques is old in the country, with Copacabana Beach in Rio being the most well-known example in the 1970s. It gained strength in Santa Catarina in the late 1990s, with Balneário Piçarras (SC) initiating its first project in 1998. Balneário Camboriú held a plebiscite in 2001 approving the work, which was executed 20 years later.