Mechanical shaping of dunes involves moving sand from one location to another with equipment ranging from large earth-moving vehicles to hand-held shovels.

People remove dune sand from undesirable locations during building construction, to improve views, and to clear wind-blown sand from existing structures.

People replenish dune sand by bringing sand from outside sources (a neighboring dune or beach) to replace materials taken from the dune by wind or wave action.

People reshape dunes by moving materials from one area of a dune to another, often to reverse changes caused by erosion.

Clearing sand from parking lots and buildings is a common spring activity along Lake Michigan where the strong fall and winter winds move sand inland from beaches and dunes. The activity does not change the processes moving the sand inland, so the cost and efforts of sand removal become part of ongoing maintenance.

Removing dune sand has negative consequences where entire foredunes or fronts of advancing dunes are involved. A foredune provides a measure of coastal protection to inland structures; with the foredune gone, the structures are more vulnerable to waves and wind during storms. Sand removal at the base of a dune slope, such as an advancing dune front, increases the angle of the slope and makes the slope more vulnerable to failure in the form of slides and flows.