Beach replenishment completed in Dewey and Rehoboth
Although there is still more than a mile of dune fencing to install and repair work at some dune crossings, beach replenishment in Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach is essentially complete.
In an email June 8, Steve Rochette, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District spokesperson, said sand placement in Dewey Beach was completed the same day.
About 500,000 cubic yards of sand was pumped ashore in Rehoboth – 300,000 – and Dewey – 200,000. Work in Rehoboth Beach began in mid-April and concluded in mid-May. The contractor – New Jersey-based Weeks Marine – began work in Dewey the day it finished in Rehoboth.
Rehoboth Beach City Manager Laurence Christian announced June 5 that repair work on stormwater outfall pipes at Maryland and Virginia avenues was complete. The pipes had been damaged during a Mother’s Day storm in 2022.
In Rehoboth, the ancillary work remaining includes: dune crossover repair, installation of post-and-rail fence, sand fence, post-and-rope fence, and dune grass planting. In previous reports, Rochette said Rehoboth is set to get about 4,850 linear feet of dune fencing.
In Dewey, he said, the schedule hasn’t been figured out yet, but it is anticipated about 2,900 linear feet of sand fence will be installed.
While work in Rehoboth and Dewey is basically complete, that’s not the case for Fenwick Island, Bethany Beach and South Bethany.
Rochette said work in Fenwick Island is ongoing and estimated for completion about June 17; work in Bethany Beach is expected to begin any day and is estimated for completion in late June; work in South Bethany is estimated to begin in mid-June, with an early-July completion.
The cost of the project – a total of $23.8 million for all the communities – is split between the federal government and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control – 65% federal, 35% state. The project, designed to reduce storm damage to infrastructure, has been done five times before – 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2019.
