Tons of sand will replenish Salisbury Beach as part of $2M project
SALISBURY - Crews placed truckload after truckload of sand on Salisbury Beach on Tuesday in an attempt to protect beachfront homes from flooding and high tides.
Beach Replenishment Project
The Beach Replenishment Project will reinforce areas of Salisbury Beach impacted by a storm earlier this year. Rain, winds and high tides destroyed the wall of sand that cost over half a million dollars to create.
The new sand is bringing back that protection, something neighbor Ray Champagne is grateful for. "We need to try to stabilize, as best as we can, the dunes; we need to replenish them. With the grace of God, Mother Nature will treat us fairly."
The tons of sand are part of a $2 million project to protect homes like Champagne's from flooding and high tides and to protect the marshland directly across the street.
A controversial project
Oponents say the sand is just a bandage and a more permanent fix is needed.
However, Champagne stands with the sand. "If we protect it and we stabilize it as best we can, I think it's worthwhile for everybody."
State Senator Bruce Tarr said using projects like this one to get ahead of climate crises before they happen. "We have two choices: We can either be victims of what's happening around us with regard to increasing sea levels and climate change or we can be proactive and be good stewards of the environment."
Tarr said the residents he talks are united behind the idea of working to find solutions. "It's important that we don't wait for a storm; we don't wait for erosion; we're not standing out here in the middle of a blizzard trying to save homes under very difficult circumstances. We're getting out ahead of it."
Will all the sand just wash away?
The designer of the project said Mother Nature will take the piles of sand and move it exactly where it needs to be. He said residets shouldn't be alarmed if the heaping piles of sand disappear.