Van Dyke Avenue outfall pipe cleared of sand

Work began in the early morning April 10 to resolve a clogged outfall pipe on Van Dyke Avenue in Dewey Beach before an annual April 15 deadline set by the state to protect spawning horseshoe crabs.

The bayside outfall pipe is maintained by Dewey Business Enterprises, which submitted a work permit to Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Oct. 31 that was approved March 25.

The project was necessary because when sand impacts the pipe, water backs up to the street and floods the public parking lot on Van Dyke Avenue.

To expose the pipe, about 250 cubic yards were moved from the toe of the beach and deposited landward of the high water line.

DBE representative Bill Lower said the project team was led by Mike Nash of Harvey, Hanna & Associates; Chris Craig of McBride & Ziegler Engineers; and Evelyn Maurmeyer, environmental consultant from Coastal & Estuarine Research Inc. in Lewes. Physical sand work was completed by Cirillo Brothers of New Castle.

Suitable protective markers will be placed around the pipe, with final decisions to be determined, Lower said.

Town Manager Bill Zolper said he was pleased to see the work being done.

“It doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s moving in the right direction,” Zolper said. “I’m happy to see Dewey Beach Enterprises is taking this next step.”

The relocated sand was previously deposited after DBE received DNREC approval to place sand on the public bay waterfront behind Hyatt Place Dewey Beach.

The bay beach has been replenished four times since 2013 – 1,800 cubic yards in 2013; 400 cubic yards in 2015; 4,800 cubic yards in 2019; and 1,000 cubic yards in 2022.

Zolper said he and town Building Official Daune Hinks opposed a DBE 2023 request to place 1,300 cubic yards of sand on the beach because a solution was needed first to resolve the clogged pipe. In January, Lower said the request was postponed to complete outfall work first.