Posted on February 25, 2026
By Tammy Wells
WELLS, Maine — The long‑awaited dredging and dune restoration project off Atlantic Avenue — running 24/7 for nearly a week — was expected to wrap up around Feb. 20 before the York County dredge shifts to Saco in the final days of February.
Once preparations there are complete, around March 2, the county dredge will move on to Camp Ellis, where it will begin rebuilding the beach and dunes severely damaged by the pair of January 2024 storms that devastated much of the York County and Maine coastline.
In Wells, the dredge — aided by a pumping system and hundreds of yards of piping — was expected to remove about 8,150 cubic yards of sand from the harbor and send it by pipeline roughly three‑quarters of a mile to the storm‑battered beach off Atlantic Avenue, according to York County Emergency Management Agency Director Art Cleaves.
The York County Emergency Management Agency handled the extensive and complex application and permitting process involving about 10 state and federal agencies that allowed the two projects, and another in Old Orchard Beach, to move forward.
On Monday, Feb. 16, workers from the environmental consulting firm SWCA arrived to begin planting 100,000 dune grass seedlings on the beach off Atlantic Avenue, adding another layer of restoration and storm protection to the newly rebuilt dunes. The plants are dormant now but will “take” once warmer weather returns. As the crew explained their process, the steady rush of sand moving through the pipeline could be heard in the background, traveling from the dredge in the harbor up to the Eastern Shore parking lot at the end of Atlantic Avenue and all the way down to the beach.
In Saco, about 1,200 cubic yards of sand are to be deposited on Camp Ellis Beach.
The initiatives — Wells, Saco, and Old Orchard Beach — are funded in a three-way split, with FEMA responsible for 75 percent, the Maine Emergency Management Agency, 15 percent, and each of the municipalities, 10 percent of the $5.1 million cost. The City of Saco has also elected to fund another 6,000 cubic yards, at a cost of about $500,000, said Cleaves.
Equipment was staged in the Camp Ellis Pier parking lot ahead of the start of operations, according to Saco Communications Director Andrew Dickinson. He said the city has notified residents along the temporary sand‑pipeline route and has partnered with Huot’s Seafood Restaurant to provide alternate parking for those affected.
“This is a true regional and community effort that will bring much-needed sand to Camp Ellis,” Dickinson said.
The Old Orchard Beach project did not include dredging, but the deposit of sand followed by dune grass planting.
On Jan. 10 and 13, 2024, major coastal storms caused more than $110 million in damage to protective dunes and beaches across York County, along with another $42 million in damage to public infrastructure. The storms stripped coastal waterfronts bare, leaving virtually no natural defenses in place, Cleaves said. Healthy dunes typically shield roads, homes, and critical infrastructure from storm surge.Federal officials granted final approval for the beach‑restoration project in mid‑December.
The economic stakes are significant: York County’s coastal tourism industry generates more than $1.6 billion in annual spending and supports more than 27,000 jobs across the region.
The damage in Saco, Wells, and Old Orchard Beach was so severe that the federal government designated the restoration work as “Category B Emergency Protective Measures,” which provides five-year flood protection. Ultimately, York County Emergency Management Agency is looking to bring coastal municipalities to 100-year flood protection and has requested $19 million through Congressionally Directed Spending to restore dunes and beaches across Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Biddeford, Kennebunkport, Wells, and Ogunquit to the 100-year standard.
Mindful of protecting Maine’s nesting shorebirds like piping plovers and roseate terns, the dredging season concludes March 15, but reopens in November.
York County government purchased the dredge in 2022 using $1.54 million from the county’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
“This is the first of many planned projects,” said Cleaves.
