Katwijk beach nourishment project starts in September

The Dutch agency Rijkswaterstaat is about to begin a beach nourishment project at Katwijk beach.

According to the announcement, from September 2022 to the end of February 2023, Rijkswaterstaat will be adding new sand to the beach.

The beach and the dunes are the main protection against the sea. Due to the wind, waves and currents, sand disappears from the coast. Applying sand at Katwijk will keep the shoreline in place.

As reported, the coast of Katwijk must be reinforced between pole 89 and the drainage canal (straight lines: 8600-8850). Due to waves, currents and wind, a lot of sand has disappeared from the coast here. Rijkswaterstaat is supplementing this loss with 600,000m3 of similar sand dredged from the sea.

Hopper dredgers will suck up the sand from the North Sea bed, about 14 km off the coast of Katwijk. Then the ships will sail back to the coast to spray sand onto the beach via a pressure pipe, after which the bulldozers will spread it evenly across the shoreline.