A five-mile hurricane protection and beach renourishment project in Sandbridge is complete.
The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, partnering with the city of Virginia Beach, Va., completed a $13.35 million project, including the dredging and placement of approximately 2 million cubic yards of sand along public beachfront from Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the Dam Neck Naval facility.
After completing the Sandbridge project, Corps contractor Weeks Marine demobilized at Sandbridge last Friday and began mobilizing at the 40th Street block of the Virginia Beach resort area, also known as Big Beach, to resume sand renourishment along the beachfront’s northern section. The Big Beach hurricane protection and beach renourishment project began last December, with the placement of 1,250,000 cubic yards of sand from 17th Street to 70th Street.
“ These sand replenishment projects are vital to our coastline in terms of tide and erosion protection, ” said Virginia Beach Mayor William D. Sessoms Jr . “They not only protect our resort beaches, but are important to the areas that border our wildlife refuge and military bases.”
Seven hurricanes and 13 tropical storms barreled across the region last year. Hurricane Sandy, which passed by Virginia Beach on its way to devastating the Northeast in October, scooped 138,000 cubic yards of sand from Sandbridge, said Phil Roehrs, the city’s water resources engineer.
Sandbridge’s original contract sand quantities of 2 million cubic yards were funded by the city of Virginia Beach, using 100 percent contributed funds. A contract amendment adding 134,850 cubic yards of sand was funded by Sandy FCCE, Flood Control and Coastal Emergency funds.
Weeks Marine, Inc. from Camden, N.J., began work in April. The original completion date for the project was slated for mid-May, but weather delayed work.
The firm was also the contractor at Sandbridge beach for three previous replenishment projects.
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Press Release, July 1, 2013