The new sand is being placed on the west side of Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, Massachusetts, creating what town officials hope will be a dune system that will protect it from the future coastal storms.
The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, the contractor on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, is taking sand from the Cape Cod Canal and transferring it to the 2,500-foot-long eroded section of Town Neck Beach.
“ Work consists of removing approximately 182,000 cubic yards of clean sand and gravel from six areas in the authorized, 32-foot-deep by 500-foot-wide, main ship channel and the 25-foot-deep East Mooring Basin portions of the project, ” said Project Manager Bill Kavanaugh.
“ Shoaling in the main ship channel consists of large wave formations. These formations cause draft restrictions, tidal delays and hazardous conditions for deep-draft commercial vessels transiting the Canal.”
The beaches in the Town of Sandwich, including Town Neck Beach and Springhill Beach, have a history of erosion over the last century.
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