Dredging project will replenish Cape Cod beach with 400,000 cubic yards of sand
SANDWICH - The town of Sandwich is once again looking at damage from an unnamed storm that moved through last Saturday causing more erosion along Town Neck Beach.
"In just this weekend the whole bottom row was destroyed," said homeowner Kurt Carlson looking at the retaining wall he rebuilds every year at considerable expense to protect his Sandwich home.
It was exposed once again to what he considers a sneaky storm over the weekend. "When you own property on this beach you recognize it doesn't have to be a named storm to cause a problem," said Carlson.
At least 20 yards of sand was washed away in front of several properties, exposing underpinnings, leaving some beach stairs dangling, and homes inching closer to the ocean in front of them.
Carlson is concerned if something isn't done and soon. "It has to happen, or these houses wouldn't make it another season if it doesn't happen," he said.
Army Corps of Engineers moving in
It finally will happen along the beach when the Army Corps of Engineers moves in by mid-October with a dredging project to pipe in sand from across the Cape Cod Canal and finally replenish the beach with 400,000 cubic yards of sand.
"What it will do is raise up the dune, give it a long, gentle slope out into the water. The wave and wind energy will be absorbed by this much larger dune form," said David DeConto, Director of Natural Resources in Sandwich.
"Sand catcher" jetty at canal
The problem has been a jetty put in by the Army Corps, the so-called "sand catcher", that's designed to prevent too much sand from building up in the canal and interfering with shipping traffic. But it's also been a barrier to sand naturally replenishing the beach in Sandwich.
"Our sand source is being starved because it can't get past the canal," said DeConto.
"If we have four and a half football fields of barrier between us and the ocean that should solve our risk problem," said Carlson.
As he looks at the damage one unnamed storm could cause, Carlson is placing his hope in the dredging projecting, not liking the alternative. "Our plan would have been to give up on it at some point and the house would be sacrificed to Mother Nature and that would be it," he said.
The dredging project is expected to last at least a few months. DeConto said the sand will need maintenance or it will likely wash away in another ten years.