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Storm surges displace thousands of tons of sand between channels along the Santos shoreline and force the City Hall to maintain frequent operations with heavy machinery to preserve urban drainage, reduce flood risks, and reorganize sediments carried by the sea’s force.
In Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, storm surges have begun to require frequent operations to remove sand accumulated in the shoreline channels and maintain the functioning of urban drainage in flood-prone areas.
According to the Regional City Hall of the Shoreline and Intermediate Zone, each episode of rough seas can displace between 2,000 and 3,000 tons of sediments along the sand strip.
The impact occurs because the sea’s force alters the natural distribution of sand on the beach and pushes part of the material into the channels.
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As a result, sediments that leave sections near channels 4, 5, and 6 end up concentrating mainly in channels 1, 2, and 3, where they hinder water flow.
To address the problem, the City Hall mobilizes hydraulic excavators, front loaders, backhoes, dump trucks, and drainage teams in work fronts on the beach.
The duration of the service varies according to the intensity of the storm surge and the accumulated volume, potentially extending from one to two weeks, with support from the municipal administration and Prodesan.
Sand displaced by storm surges threatens Santos channels
According to the regional mayor of the Shoreline and Intermediate Zone, Rodrigo Paixão, the operation is not just about removing sand from the most affected channels by accumulation.
Besides removal, the work aims to return the sediment to its original points, especially in beach sections that lose sand after the storm surges.
“This sand accumulates all in channels 3, 2, and 1, which is where we do this dredging, and it returns to the places of origin,” said Paixão.
This dynamic shows that the problem repeats itself as new maritime fronts hit the shoreline, creating a cycle of sand removal, transport, and replacement.
In practice, the city needs to deal with a permanent movement of sediments between different points of the beach and urban drainage structures.
Once removed from the silted channels, the sand is transported along the beach strip and replaced in areas that suffered material loss.
Meanwhile, the channels need to remain clear to allow rainwater to flow and reduce the risk of disruptions on nearby roads.
Constant attention is justified because the channels of Santos play an essential role in the city’s drainage system and in preventing flooding.
When sand accumulates at the drainage outlets, the water finds it more difficult to reach the sea, which can compromise the flow during heavy rains.
Heavy machinery operates on the beach sand strip
In task forces, trucks and heavy machinery move along the beach to remove material deposited inside the channels and reopen the passage for water.
This movement needs to be agile enough to avoid getting stuck, but also controlled to reduce risks to bathers, tourists, and workers circulating along the shore.
Among the most delicate stages is the logistics in an area of high public circulation, especially during peak periods on the sand strip.
As the vehicles pass through sections used by beachgoers, teams guide the public and organize the circulation of trucks during the operation.
“It is a heavy truck with a load, which cannot move on the sand at a very low speed due to the risk of getting stuck. When a task force occurs, we have some people giving directions, clearing the way to avoid accidents,” stated Rodrigo Paixão.
In addition to traffic control on the sand, the progress of the service depends on sea conditions, weather, and the amount of displaced sediment.
More intense swells can increase the volume of sand accumulated in the channels, making the operation more time-consuming and increasing urgency during rainy periods.
Although dredging is treated as a routine action, the repetition of episodes has increased the pressure on the teams responsible for maintenance.
With each new tide movement, some of the sand may return to the newly cleaned channels, requiring further intervention to restore drainage flow.
Swells in Santos occur outside the most common period
The municipal administration also observes a change in the behavior of swells, which were previously more frequently associated with autumn and winter.
In Paixão’s assessment, the occurrence of these events also in the summer has reduced the predictability of maintenance actions on the Santos shore.
“Ten, 15 years ago, swells only happened in winter and autumn periods. Since then, we have already noticed them in the summer. In other words, there is no longer a determination that this will only happen in cold times,” declared the regional mayor of the Shore and Intermediate Zone.
Even with this perception, technicians avoid directly linking the change in the pattern of swells to climate change without specific investigation.
Engineer Lauro Aguiar, who cooperates in the management of the drainage contract, states that any association between the phenomena depends on a broader and deeper analysis.
“This requires a much deeper study,” said Aguiar.
According to the technical assessment, the perceived change may be relevant for urban planning, but it still does not allow for a direct and conclusive link to global warming.
Without this confirmation, the city works on effects already observed on the shore, such as the silting of channels, sand loss in certain areas, and the sea’s advance during swells.
These impacts interfere with maintenance routines and make flood prevention more complex in a city that depends on the regular functioning of the channels.
City Hall studies barriers against swells on the shore
To reduce the impacts of high tides, the City Hall reports that it is evaluating preventive measures aimed at containing seawater and protecting the drainage system.
Among the alternatives analyzed are anti-swell gates, retention valves, expansion of geobags, and reinforcement of rock armoring in sections of the shore.
These proposals are part of studies associated with ProCanais, a municipal program aimed at the recovery, maintenance, and modernization of the urban channels of Santos.
The initiative includes technical analyses to reduce the advance of sand over drainage structures and lessen the effects of high tides in the city.
The set of measures seeks to combine emergency interventions, carried out after swells, with long-term solutions to reduce the recurrence of the problem.
While machines remove sand from the channels, studies attempt to identify ways to limit sediment entry and improve the system’s response.
Biologist Débora Mandaji, manager of the Drainage Contract of the Regional City Halls Secretariat, states that the main concern is to preserve water flow.
According to her, the accumulation of sand reduces the efficiency of the channels and increases the risk of flooding, especially when the city faces heavy rain after periods of rough seas.
Even so, maintenance does not definitively eliminate the problem, because the natural movement caused by the sea can return the material to the channels in new swells.
The most vulnerable points to sediment accumulation continue to require constant monitoring by drainage teams along the Santos shore.
“We take it from 3, move it to 5. The next swell comes, takes it from 5, returns it to 3. We are arm wrestling with nature,” said Débora.
The sentence summarizes the difficulty of a city that relies on the canals to drain the rain and, at the same time, needs to coexist with the recurring force of the sea on the beach.
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