At a press conference held on Monday morning, Congressman Tim Bishop announced that approvals are now in place to shore up Tiana Beach, which was severely eroded during Hurricane Sandy with the dunes washing across Dune Road.
The approval comes just about a week after dredge equipment arrived at the Shinnecock Inlet for a scheduled project to dredge 128,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish the Shinnecock area after Hurricane Irene at a cost of $3.87 million.
Since, officials have been working to gain approvals to piggy-back the shoring up of about 2,000 feet of beach at Tiana.
With the approvals in hand, a total of 450,000 cubic yards of sand will be dredged and moved to build up Shinnecock, as well as Tiana.
“ Rebuilding the dunes around the Shinnecock Inlet is of vital importance for the infrastructure not only on the land immediately surrounding the inlet, but on the mainland as well, ” said Congressman Bishop, who noted that rebuilding the dunes will prevent the type of devastation Dune Road saw in 1992 when the ocean met the bay after a series of storms.
Also on hand at the press conference was Army Corps of Engineers New York District Commander Col. Paul Owen who recently oversaw the filling in of a breach at Cupsogue caused by Superstorm Sandy.
Owen indicated that not only will the dredge protect the area from future storms, but it will also improve navigation in the area.
Both Legislator Jay Schneiderman and Assemblyman Fred Thiele, who were also in attendance, echoed Owen and Bishops statements.
Cost estimates for the extension of the project to Tiana are still being worked up, according to Bishop. It is expected that the project will wrap up in about two weeks.
[mappress]
Source: westhampton-hamptonbays, December 12, 2012