VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- Hurricane Isabel kicked up the sand, and the debate, over a $125 million beach widening project that was completed a year ago to protect this city's high-rise hotels and the tourists they bring.

The storm's fury sent waves -- and sand -- over the seawall Thursday, possibly damaging stretches of the new beach and fueling criticisms that the largely federally funded project was a waste of money.

"All of us paid for this, including the people in Omaha," said Orrin Pilkey, a Duke University geologist who contends that the new sand will always wash away. "The sea level is going to keep rising and the erosion rate is going to increase."

It was impossible to gauge the extent of the damage to the beach Thursday because storm-tossed waves continued to slam against the concrete seawall.

Phill Roehrs, a coastal engineer with the city, estimated that Isabel would deposit 500 to 1,000 cubic yards of sand into storm drains and onto landscaping along the resort strip -- a small amount compared to the 4 million cubic yards of sand that was pumped onto the beach.

Roehrs said moderate beach erosion is an expected part of the project because sand is there to absorb the energy of the waves, thus protecting the buildings.

"It's a sacrificial element," Roehrs said.

The city may have to add more sand, depending on the Isabel's impact, Roehrs said, but that's better than significant damage to hotels.

"Because of the rain, all you can see is a blur," Roger Brouillette, chief engineer of the 110-room Best Western Oceanfront Hotel, said of the beach below him.

The final phase of the Beach Erosion Control and Hurricane Protection Project, also known as the Big Beach project, was completed in March 2002. The 4 million cubic yards of sand was pumped from the ocean floor and dumped onto the beach, widening the beach to 300 feet. The federal government paid 65 percent of the $125 million; the city paid the rest.

Pilkey said the old way Virginia Beach used to replenish the beach -- bringing in sand by truck and dumping it where it was needed -- made more sense.

Now, there is a "giant, inflexible beach project," Pilkey said.

Other East Coast beaches have tried sand replenishment. At Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort, S.C., about 1.5 million cubic yards of sand was placed on the beach in 1991 but virtually all of it has washed away.

Another replenishment project in Virginia Beach added sand to the beach in Sandbridge, a remote community of about 1,500 beach houses that was under a a mandatory evacuation order during Isabel.

In 1998, the city spent $8 million to add 1.1 million cubic yards of sand to Sandbridge. This year, 1.5 million cubic yards more of sand was added, with the federal government paying 65 percent of the $10 million cost and the city paying the rest, Roehrs said.

"I can't help but think the $10 million could have paid for a better school system rather than for nourishing a beach for a few fat cats," Pilkey said.

Roehrs said Pilkey would prefer that people move away from the coast, but that's not realistic.

"We're here now and we have to deal with it," Roehrs said.

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