Weeks Marine, Inc. has begun works on a $15.7 million Ocean City beach renourishment project.
The scheme is part of the Atlantic Coast of Maryland Shoreline Protection Project, which is a cost-shared effort between the U.S. Army, the Maryland, Worcester County and the Town of Ocean City.
The sand needed for this operation is being dredged from Weaver Shoal, located more than 7 miles offshore of Ocean City on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), under an agreement signed this spring by USACE, the state, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
The agreement gives the state, working in partnership with the Corps, access to 1.3 million cubic yards of sand for the nourishment of 8.3 miles of beach including 7 miles of sand dunes in Ocean City, Maryland.
Beach fill operations, which started in mid-October, are expected to run through the end of the year.