Posted on January 27, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has commenced essential maintenance dredging for the Fire Island Inlet and Shores Westerly to Jones Inlet New York Beach Erosion Control and Navigation Project. This critical work, awarded to Norfolk Dredging Company for nearly $37 million, began in November and is expected to continue until early spring 2025.
1.25 Million Cubic Yards of Sand
Sand is being placed at Gilgo Beach on New York’s Jones Island – a barrier island south of Long Island 50 miles east of New York City. Jones Island serves as a buffer protecting the mainland during severe storms and tidal surges and is vulnerable to erosion as it directly faces the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 1.25 million cubic yards of sand is being dredged from Fire Island Inlet and placed at Gilgo Beach (just west of the inlet) nourishing critical erosion areas. The Inlet is being dredged to a depth of 14 feet and has a 250-foot wide navigation channel.
Sand placed onshore west of the dredging site has another benefit: A prevailing westward current transports the sand westward along Jones Island to combat erosion and provide reduced flood risk from severe storms and tidal surges. Fire Island Inlet is home to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Fire Island and 35 commercial charter fishing boats which draws nearly two million visitors each year.
Jones Island also protects Great South Bay which has a significant wildlife habitat area with a number of endangered species of shorebirds nesting in the area.
New York District Commander Col. Alexander Young stated: “This project is crucial to maintaining safe navigation and protecting our coastlines from the impacts of severe storms and erosion. We’re committed to collaborating with local communities to ensure these efforts benefit the region’s environment, economy and recreational pursuits.”
Operational Site Visit
During a recent site visit sand was pumping onto the beach from a dredge offshore as heavy equipment moved sand into place, matching shoreline design specifications. Dredging and sand placement is regularly monitored by District employees, ensuring work aligns with plans and specifications and is completed in a timely manner. (Plans and specifications are developed by the Project Delivery Team (PDT), a group of interdisciplinary professionals collaborating to produce a quality finished product.)
New York’s Chief of the Operations, Readiness, and Regulatory Division Randall Hintz noted: “Maintenance dredging is a team effort at the Army Corps of Engineers. Projects of this scale and size are planned, designed and coordinated by a group of interdisciplinary professionals before, during and after to ensure work is done correctly and the finished product functions as designed. Dredging Fire Island Inlet and placing sand on nearby beaches is a double benefit for the community: A deeper, safer navigation channel and a reinforced shoreline better equipped to reduce flood risk from severe storms and tidal surges.”
Project Delivery Team
Professionals working on the project include:
● William Bruno Operations Asset/Project Manager
● Chad Buczkowski Construction Control Representative
● Richard Fallarme Back-Up Project Engineer
● Ryan Ferguson Chief, Operations Technical Support Section
● Eli Greenblatt Coastal Engineer
● Michael Oseback Chief, Operations Support Branch
● William Vanterpool Project Engineer
Projects of this scale and size often take several months to complete and are subject to environmental regulations restricting dredging and sand placement to the fall and winter months ⎼ the time of year when both equipment and personnel are more vulnerable to weather hazards and delays. Careful preparation and safety protocols mitigate these risks. Fire Island Inlet was most recently dredged in 2022-23 with approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of sand placed at Gilgo Beach and Robert Moses State Park under a separate contract.
Major Contributor: William Vanterpool
Lead Project Engineer William Vanterpool has been working in the Operations Division, Technical Support Section, since the 1990s.
Colleague William Bruno noted Vanterpool’s value to the project: “For myself and the team, he’s been an incredible asset contributing institutional knowledge and lessons learned from working on Fire Island Inlet in the past. He’s made significant contributions as the Contract Office Representative that depends on his technical expertise and understanding all aspects of the project ⎼ engineering and design, environmental and stakeholder coordination, contract administration and supervision of contractor’ activities. He’s been terrific!”
Expanded Scope
Severe erosion from a series of storms in 2023 and 2024 created an urgent need to reduce risk to the barrier island. In response, New York’s PDT amended the contract increasing the scope of work to include local stakeholder-funded beach renourishment projects: placing 70,000 cubic yards of sand at Overlook Beach and 53,000 cubic yards at Tobay Beach, respectively. This was completed in conjunction with Army Corps partner agencies ⎼ the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, National Marine and Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Towns of Babylon and Oyster Bay .
Quality Control
Personnel regularly visit the site, including project engineers and a construction-control representative. The benefits of these visits are many: a) adherence to plans and specifications; b) maintaining safety and quality-control standards; c) visibility for stakeholders; and d) highlighting Army Corps oversight. Inspections focus on beach fill design, the dredge, environmental compliance and safety. Previous maintenance dredging cycles have significantly mitigated erosion and storm impacts.
A mixture of sand and water pumping onto Gilgo Beach on Long Island approximately 50 miles east of Manhattan. Heavy equipment (in background) moves sand into place to match the design profile of the beach.
Army Corps of Engineers’ staff supervise sand placement at Gilgo Beach on Long Island’s south shore approximately 50 miles east of Manhattan. Heavy equipment moves sand into place matching the design profile of the beach.
New York District employees overlook ongoing work at Long Island’s Gilgo Beach. Sand dredged from nearby Fire Island Inlet is being beneficially re-used as beach fill to reduce flood risk from severe storms and tidal surges.
