North-End Dune Restoration Expected to Be Complete in January

A little more than a year after a three-day coastal storm flattened a section of dunes on the north end, the rebuilding project is underway.

Crews from Philadelphia-based Tri-State Dredging are burying geotubes–massive fabric cylinders stuffed with sand–under mounds of more sand along East Atlantic Boulevard.

The $956,000 project began just before Thanksgiving and is tentatively expected to be complete by the second week in January, according to Business Administrator Michael Dattilo. When the beach reconstruction is complete, dune grass will be planted and the stairs and ramp leading to Waverly Beach will be replaced.

The new geotube system replaces an old one that was exposed and torn by the November 2009 nor'easter but that was credited with preventing further damage to property behind the dunes.

Much of the cost of the project will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which approved reparations after the region was declared a disaster area following the storm.