The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has just announced that the Long Beach Coastal Restoration Project, located along Long Island’s South Shore, is taking shape.
The Army Corps Contracting Rep. Michael Ortega and project engineer Janeen Minguillo travel in a four-wheel-drive truck and ascend over newly excavated sand making their daily rounds surveying sand levels.
The landscape of Long Beach and Point Lookout, New York have dramatically changed over the last year.
Groin stabilization structures that were dilapidated are now rehabilitated, and a six foot parapet wall now provides storm risk reduction between the sea and shorefront residences and businesses.
“When you lose sight of the beach and the surrounding area in a deep dune, you could easily think you were in the Sahara Desert,” said Minguillo.
“We’ve made significant progress in reach one,” added Ortega . “We have completed the revetment concrete seawall and armor stone revetment seawall.”
The concrete parapet wall at Point Lookout has been backfilled with sand on the landward side and armor stone was laid on the seaward side. The feature essentially hides the wall, and it actually appears to be a walkway from the landward side. The wall is intended to reinforce the earth, keep sand on the beach and assist in preventing washout.
In the event of a storm surge, residences located yards from the wall are now at less risk from flooding than prior to the walls construction. Approximately 148,000 cubic yards of sand was excavated to widen Long Beach and provide further storm risk reduction.
In addition, groins 56, 55, A, B, and C are 100 percent completely rehabbed, reducing beach erosion and storm risks. The Corps is expected to begin construction of groin 58 at the end of 2017, with construction to begin at reach 2 later this spring.
Groin D is currently being worked on and is expected to be completed this spring as well. Furthermore, during this spring, crews are expected to set up staging areas to commence construction on the rehabilitation of 15 groins in the second reach of the project.
In early April 2017, additional delivery of stone is expected, with the dismantling of said groins at reach 2.
Minguillo said: “We want to get this project completed on time. We have continuously coordinated with all the partners and we meet weekly with the public to keep the community of Long Beach involved.”
Reach 1 is expected to be completed on time, schedules for the start of reach 2 are also moving along as planned. Overall, the Long Beach Project is expected to provide storm risk reduction to over 33,000 Long Beach residents.
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