Posted on November 11, 2024
After years of losing ground to storms and erosion, the Town Neck Beach area of Sandwich is getting bigger. An $8.95 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging and beach nourishment project is underway, with the goal of adding approximately 325,000 cubic yards of material to the beach surface.
According to a U.S. Army Corps fact sheet, the project will “mitigate shore damage attributed to the east jetties of the Cape Cod Canal.” Sand that would have been destined for the Town Neck Beach area “has been interrupted by the jetties, causing sand to accrete on the north side of the jetties.”
Sand is being dredged from what is called a “borrow area” off Scussett Beach State Reservation and sent through an approximately 9,000 foot pipeline across the bottom of the canal to the Town Neck Beach area. Once the sand gets to the Town Neck Beach area, it “will be shaped according to an engineered design for a dune and berm system to prevent additional erosion,” according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
A Houston-based company, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has been contracted to do the work, and their 309-foot-long dredge named the “Illinois” can be seen near the mouth of the canal.
In a phone interview with the Cape Cod Times on Nov. 4, Heather Harper, the Sandwich assistant town manager, said the contractor was about “a third of the way through the project.” Work is scheduled to continue 24 hours a day until the project is completed. Harper said the project is expected to be completed before Thanksgiving.
Erosion in the Town Neck Beach area has caused significant property damage over the years. “The project is designed to be a long-term sustainable solution,” said Harper. She added that the project was important not only for homeowners in the area, but also for the protection of the large marsh behind the beach.
A slurry of wet sand bubbles out of a dredge pipe as bulldozers work to move the sand mined at the eastern end of the Cape Cod Canal onto the shoreline along Town Neck Beach in Sandwich.
Additional beach nourishment will be needed in the future to maintain the gains of the current project, said Harper.
First Beach and Town Neck Beach will remain open while the project is underway. Beachgoers should stay outside a 1,000-foot safety zone from the work area, according to the town. Part of the First Beach parking lot will be closed at the beginning of the project to stage equipment. Part of the Town Neck Beach parking lot will be similarly closed as work progresses in that direction.
