Posted on November 17, 2016
By Ryan Mavity, CapeGazette.com
Beach replenishment in Rehoboth Beach is anticipated to begin later this month, and as part of that project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will repair two stormwater outfalls at the north end of the Boardwalk.
Mayor Sam Cooper said outfalls at Grenoble Place and Maryland Avenue have been damaged but have remained functional for nearly eight years. Cooper said wave action has caused damage primarily to the support pilings. He said the city has been relying on temporary fixes, such as cutting the pipe down to keep it out of the water, to avoid further wave damage.
The city will pay $946,000 in budgeted funds towards the project, which will be added as an alternate to the beach replenishment project. The base cost of the beach replenishment is $8 million, although options on the contract with Great Lakes Dredge and Dock could push the total to $12 million.
Steve Rochette, spokesman for the corps, said, “We are still in the process of evaluating the outfalls at those locations and working out the details, but it is going to be a part of the main beachfill contract.”
Krys Johnson, spokeswoman for the city, said pre-construction meetings are planned, but no dates have been set.
Cooper said the new outfalls will have a more robust design better able to withstand storm damage, with steel pipe for added strength and an enhanced support structure around the pipe.
The corps is planning to begin work in late-November, pumping 424,000 cubic yards of sand on Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach. In a break from previous beach replenishment projects, the corps will use a new borrow site off Delaware Seashore State Park. The last beach repair in 2013 used sand from a site off Fenwick Island; the corps has changed sites to reduce the costs of moving the sand to the project beaches
Source: Cape Gazette
