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Grass planting not a cap on dune height
By M. Patricia Titus
News Editor
While major construction in the beach reconstruction project in Bethany Beach has been completed for nearly three months, recent activity on the project has stirred concerns from some of the area’s residents and property owners, as the planting of beach grass and construction of dune crossovers began in the last week.
“I walked the beach this afternoon and was shocked and disappointed to observe that not only are the proposed dune crossovers staked at each of the steps from the boardwalk, but more significant is the effort of a crew of six or so workmen planting the dune grass on top of the dune,” wrote Bethany resident John J. Stamm to state officials this week in a letter forwarded to the Coastal Point for publication.
“Either the (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) has decided not to reduce the dune height, or the contractor has elected to begin grass planting in the most controversial location, or the act is an ‘in your face’ response to the petition to consider the reduction in elevation,” Stamm wrote.
Backhoes were seen working on the beach access at Fifth Street, Bethany’s southernmost street, late last week, while the major construction segment of the project nears completion in neighboring South Bethany.
That these final stages of constructing the new dune and beach are taking place now — before a decision requested from the Corps about possibly reducing the dune height by 2 feet is known — has left Stamm and others in the area wondering if, indeed, such a decision has already been made in the negative but not made public.
But Tony Pratt, program administrator for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC)’s Shoreline and Waterway Division, said that is simply not the case.
“The Corps has not made a decision,” he told the Coastal Point this Wednesday, “and we cannot make any assumptions. We have to proceed with the contact as written.”
Pratt said the placement of the dune grass and construction of the crossovers, while among the final steps in the project, won’t stop DNREC from reducing the height of the 16-foot dune in the future if the state gets the go-ahead from the Corps to do so.
“If dune is reduced, the grass will be sacrificed,” he said.
Corps decision could be months away still
Neither state nor town officials have heard indications of any decision having been made by the Corps on the controversial dune height, which many residents and property owners have protested as too high and blocking the view from the town’s boardwalk. Pratt and other DNREC officials, as well as Bethany town officials, have all asked the Corps to consider reducing the dune to 14 feet to alleviate the blocking of the view.
“We don’t know when they’re going to make that decision, but they have not yet,” Pratt said.
“The only information we’ve received is that a decision would be made sometime in the future,” said Bethany Beach Town Manager Cliff Graviet on Wednesday. “They’re doing the crossovers, they’re doing the dune grass, but it’s not an indication there’s been a decision made.”
Graviet said the original estimate given to the town as to a time period to receive that decision was four, five or six months, and that was in October 2007.
“This is not five people going in a room and making a decision,” Pratt emphasized. “They’re running an analysis that took two to three years the first time — a viability analysis.”
Pratt said the mathematically-driven computer modeling being done to answer the question of whether the dune can be lowered by 2 feet and still provide good storm protection for the town requires programs and personnel that are now working on other jobs, with the Bethany job being fitted in among that other work.
Meanwhile, Graviet said, the work originally called for in the beach reconstruction contract is proceeding on schedule, while that decision is awaited. “It’s not an indication that a decision has been made or that the option is off the table,” he emphasized.
“There’s no real provision for these people to come back,” Graviet added. “They got the go-ahead per the contract, since they’re not sure when the Corps is going to make a decision.”
Among those items of work in Bethany Beach is the construction of the underpinnings for the dune crossings from the town’s boardwalk. Work on the pilings that will support the first of those crossings, at Garfield Parkway, were begun late last week and Pratt said he expected that work to be completed by today.
“One woman who was down there was very pleased to see they would be wooden ramps. There’s no step up, only a small ramp up from the boardwalk,” Pratt said. “I think that will make people a lot happier, to know that the beach will be easily accessible.”
South Bethany beach project moves south
To the south, contractors continued work this week on the major construction phase of the beach reconstruction in South Bethany, where there has been little, if any, controversy over the dune height after years of shrinking beachfront and threatening seawater wash under the oceanfront houses and up to shoreside Ocean Drive.
South Bethany Councilman Richard Ronan said last Friday, Jan. 11, as he strolled along Ocean Drive that he was pleased with the work, including the dune height, and questioned why anyone would want their town’s protection from storms reduced.
Bulldozers moved sand from the outfall of the dredge pumping system near the south end of the town late last week and early this week, creating a dune at or slightly below the floor level of the first-floor decks on many of the beachfront homes.
“Yesterday, they were working in the middle, where they had some dune they had to repair,” Pratt acknowledged Wednesday. He said there had been some concern about ordnance in that segment of the South Bethany dune but excavation of the area had yielded some gravel that was then removed. “Everything was fine. It was all cleared. It was fear more than the real threat.”
That issue dealt with, Pratt said pumps and bulldozers were working to repair that dune. He said attention was also being paid to some “deficiencies” where the dredge pipe was landed on the beach. Pumping activities are expected to continue through the end of February.
“This is all weather- and mechanics-driven,” Pratt added, saying that a nor’easter or northeast winds could force some delays, as could any mechanical breakdowns. Still, dune grass planting is now expected to be completed by the end of March for the entire project, from Bethany’s north end to South Bethany’s south end.
“They work very fast,” he said, praising the subcontractors doing the work, “and they’re starting now so they can start at north end of South Bethany and follow right behind the contractors.” The dune fencing construction will also continue into the spring, he added.
New beach stands up to winter storms
As Corps personnel and computers continue to crunch the numbers that will determine whether a 14-foot dune can stand up to weather that could otherwise threaten Bethany Beach’s boardwalk, its inhabitants and their homes, Pratt said the new, wider beach and dune were already proving their mettle against winter storms.
“We have had some winter storms — nothing to write home about. But I think now we can have some big storms and the water won’t get near boardwalk,” he said.
“I was pleased to see the two terraces of beach recovery going on in Bethany,” he said of the period after the most recent set of heavy northeast winds. “You can see where the ‘construction template’ was dipped into by the storms. But there’s a distinct slug of stand welded onto the beach and another in front of that.”
Pratt had previously emphasized the ability of the area’s beaches to rebuild themselves naturally over time after sand is lost from storms. The recovery of the beach in Bethany so far seems to indicate that is, in fact, happening with the new beach.
“It’s performing the way it’s supposed to,” he said. “It’s done its first equilibration. Overall, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve seen.”
For more information on the beach reconstruction project and photos of the progress in the two towns, visit the Coastal Point’s Web site at www.coastalpoint.com and click on the “Beach Replenishment” graphic at the bottom of the page.
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