The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District has announced the recent completion of dredging in five south shore inlets.
According to the Corps, the projects have all been dual-purposed, restoring safe depths for navigation, and beneficially using all dredged sands for coastal storm risk resiliency and environmental restoration.
The five inlets, all dredged since last fall are East Rockaway Inlet, Jones Inlet, Fire Island Inlet, Moriches Inlet and Shinnecock Inlet.
Taken together, the dredging activities removed over a million cubic yards of sand, all of which was placed on adjacent beaches or into the literal drift system.
Dredging activities during the fall and winter season did see some major challenges given many extreme weather days and difficult working conditions.
Most challenging were the latest activities to complete Contract 2 of the Fire Island to Montauk Point Project (FIMP) which required dredging in Moriches Inlet and Shinnecock Inlet.
The Corps, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) and federal and state resource agencies, worked tirelessly to deliver the project.
With completion of work under the $24,498,050 contract, which was awarded to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company LLC of Houston, TX, there is now bolstered resilience of Long Island’s coastline.
The FIMP contract involved the hydraulic dredging of more than 320,000 cubic yards of sand from Shinnecock and Moriches Inlets, strategically placing it on updrift and downdrift beaches to reduce erosion and strengthen coastal resiliency.
The work at Fire Island, Moriches and Shinnecock are part of a comprehensive, multi-year $1.7 billion project, fully federally funded under Public Law 113-2, the Emergency Supplemental Bill passed in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.