Posted on January 1, 2019
Sandwich’s effort to quell its beach erosion problem is getting a boost from the town of Bourne.
Sandwich Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham said the town would receive roughly 5,000 cubic yards of surplus sand that would go toward padding an exposed area on Town Neck Beach hit hard by a string of nor’easters earlier this year.
PA Landers Inc., a Sandwich-based sand and gravel supplier, began transporting the sediment from Shore Road in Pocasset earlier this week, according to Timothy Mullen, director of the Bourne Department of Natural Resources.
The sand is left over from a dredging project off Barlows Landing completed in October 2017, Mullen said.
Bourne originally intended to use the sand to construct a dewatering basin, but plans changed, and officials did not have another site at which to store the material for future use.
“They need it and we really don’t at this time,” Mullen said. “So it’s a win-win.”
The Woods Hole Group, which is consulting with the town on beach renourishment efforts, suggested the sand go to fill in a spot on the west end of the beach near a house that was condemned this past winter, Dunham said.
Although the sand will help, Sandwich ultimately needs 400,000 cubic yards to shore up the beach, he said.
“This is, in the scheme of things, a very small amount, but we thank Bourne for thinking of us,” Dunham said.
The degradation of Town Neck Beach is a perennial problem. The Woods Hole Group identified the Cape Cod Canal jetties as harmful to the health of the beach because they trap sand that would otherwise migrate down and replenish the dunes.
The Army Corps is looking at whether the federal government will take more responsibility for the erosion of Town Neck Beach through an analysis known as a Section 111. The study, which began in February 2017, could yield millions of dollars in support from the federal government. Dunham said the town hopes to hear back from the federal agency with its draft findings in May.
The town also is seeking permits to begin borrowing sand from a 23-acre subtidal site off Scusset Beach, on the other side of the canal. Officials have received the required state permits for the work but are waiting to hear back from federal regulators through the Army Corps about obtaining a “unified” permit to move ahead with plans.
Bourne’s sand should be in place and shaped up on Town Neck Beach by Friday, Dunham said.
Mullen said Bourne would embark on another dredging project in Little Bay next fall that could result in the release of another 22,000 cubic yards of sand for beach renourishment.
“We hope to do this again in the future,” he said.
Source: Cape Cod Times
