INTRODUCTION In September 1998, Tropical Storm Frances caused severe beach and dune erosion along the Gulf shoreline of the southeast Texas coast. This erosion placed many beach houses in danger of being undermined or damaged during subsequent storms and gradual shoreline retreat. To help prevent such damage, shore-parallel geotextile tubes (geotubes) were installed. The geotubes are sediment-filled sleeves of geotextile fabric having an oval cross section of approximately 12 ft (Figure 1). They rest on a fabric scour apron that has sediment-filled anchor tubes along each edge. Geotubes are placed in a trench parallel to shore along the back beach or foredunes, and project designs call for sand and natural beach vegetation to cover them (Figure 2). Currently, seven geotube projects cover a total of 7.3 mi of the Gulf shoreline from Follets Island to High Island (Figure 3).