The results of a before-and-after Hurricane Fabian study on Bermuda's coastline were released last week, with recommendations for repairs and future protection against wave damage.

Jamaican erosion experts Smith Warner International were commissioned earlier this year by Bermuda's Environment Ministry to carry out the Island's first coastal erosion study. "The project team visited in July and completed a comprehensive survey of the entire coastline by boat and on foot," said Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield in the House of Assembly on Friday.

Originally, the study was designed to help identify areas most at risk from erosion. The team of specialists spent a week in July carrying out a comprehensive reconnaissance survey of the entire coastline, by boat and on foot. "The final report will be submitted in early 2004," said Ms Butterfield.

With Hurricane Fabian coming so soon on the heels of the original study, however, Environment took advantage of the chance to look on the bright side. "Hurricane Fabian gave the consultants an opportunity to measure and assess the real impacts of a major storm," Ms Butterfield stated in a press statement.

The project team returned to Bermuda a week after the hurricane to re-survey and photograph the coastline by boat and on foot, as well as conduct surveys of private and public lands and beaches most affected by the hurricane, particularly along the South Shore.

They met with Government to discuss areas such as South Shore Road near John Smith's Bay and the Causeway.

Regarding South Shore Road, they recommended considering road re-location, and added a properly enforced concrete seawall is needed. That section of the road is one of only two areas of road which still remain in disrepair after Hurricane Fabian.

Regarding the Causeway, the consultants stated Bermuda should "strongly consider" a specific detailed engineering study of the Causeway, including possibilities of bridge upgrading or a new bridge/tunnel option. Elsewhere in the report the consultants recommended repairs take into account one-in-25 or one-in-50 years storms, however for the Causeway they stated Bermuda should prepare for the one-in-100 years storm event.

Members of the public were also invited to meet with the consultants, and 52 on-site meetings were held with property owners, architects and engineers in areas such as The Reefs, Tucker's Town, and Coral Beach, among others. The consultants also inspected the airport area, Watford Bridge and several other public areas.

The completed assessment of coastal damages caused by Hurricane Fabian reconstructed the hurricane's path to the east of the Island and forces that pounded Bermuda's shoreline on September 5. It included a series of before-and-after photographs of the Island.

Among the results, it noted: "Huge numbers of uprooted casuarina trees were observed, particularly during the boat tours". No other trees were mentioned as being significantly damaged in the entire report, other than the mangroves at Hungry Bay.

The report also estimated storm surge at over one metre inside the Departures Hall at the Airport, and singled out the removal of an entire sand dune at Horseshoe Bay which previously separated the baby beach from the main beach. Natural reconstruction of that sand dune will be hampered by foot traffic, it said.

Along Bermuda's cliffs single blocks weighing more than 50 tonnes had been eroded, the report said. One block which fell into the sea at White Sands was estimated to weigh more than 200 tonnes. South Shore hotels appeared to have received the brunt of the damage.

The report made recommendations for each property inspected, as well as general recommendations for construction in general.

These included: construction set well back from the ocean, beach structures to be considered "temporary", detailed information on the construction of seawalls, community approaches for similar protection along a stretch of shoreline, and tips for vegetation and shoreline defence structures.

"I commend this report to all local architects and engineers," said Ms Butterfield.

Copies of the report are available from the Department of Planning for $20. The accompanying 52-site assessment report is available for $50.