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Nov 16, 2016
The Beachfill Nourishment Project is underway. The pumping of sand started the evening of November 24 and will operate 24/7 until completion January 18, 2017. The scope of the project is to replenish sand on Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach caused by storm damage, construct automotive and pedestrian dune crossings, install sand fence, and plant dune grass and install two storm water outfall extensions at Virginia Avenue and Maryland Avenue. Wave action has caused damage over the past eight years to the outfalls and the city has been relying on temporary fixes. The new outfalls will have a more robust design and withstand storm damage with steel pipe for added strength and an enhanced support structure around the pipe. The project sponsor is the State of Delaware and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the design and construction agent and the contractor is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. The total cost of the project is $11.2 million. The corps will pay 65 percent of that cost and DNREC will pay the remaining 35 percent. The city will pay $946,500 in budgeted funds to pay for the outfall repairs.
The base contract called for 424,000 cubic yards to be pumped and there will be 653,000 cubic yards pumped with the options added, 384,000 for Rehoboth and 269,000 for Dewey. The Notice to Proceed was issued August 11, 2016, with a construction period of 160 days. Completion for all beachfill and associated work except the two outfalls is January 18, 2017. For the two outfall extensions the time slated for completion is June 15, 2017. Staging area for this work will be on Deauville Beach and pipe has landed at Baltimore Avenue on November 19 and mid-December another pipe will land at Pennsylvania Avenue. The corps will use a new borrow site located off the Delaware Seashore State Park where grain size of the sand matches the beaches of Rehoboth Beach. This choice is not only for aesthetics, but for stability, matching grains are less prone to erosion.
Two massive dredges are the source where giant vacuums pull up sand and water. The intake travels through grating that filters out debris. The sand and water travel through an underwater pipeline to the beach. The material gushes out the end of the pipeline into a "basket" that serves as a second filter (with a finer screen) to eliminate any sort of debris. Any debris is hauled to dumpsters on the beach. Conventional earth-moving equipment then moves the sand to the optimal shape and slope.
