Work on the Fire Island renourishment project began in the summer of 2001, about the time an early fall storm receded the dune line 20 feet and put many of the coastal homes at risk (see picture below).  Coastal Planning and Engineering, Inc lead a team that planned, designed, permitted and managed construction of the project for five separate communities. After the communities overcame many governmental and permitting obstacles, construction began on November 16, 2003.  Dredge and fill operations of two beach nourishment projects on Fire Island, NY were completed on January 20, 2004.  The communities renourished their beaches with 1.2 million cubic yards of sand dredged from two new Atlantic Ocean sand sources. 

The work involved five communities, two Townships, and required one State and two Federal permits.  The second Federal permit was the most difficult, and was required by the National Park Service, which shares the island with the communities.  Along the way, an EIS and EA were produced.  Project success derived from sound engineering, design, geology and permitting skills supplemented with the communities’ perseverance. The five communities were represented by three contracting authorities grouped into two Townships and an incorporated Village.   Each authority bid and contracted the work as a separate entity.

The above photographs show the before and after construction conditions in Dunewood, Fire Island, NY.  The fill design was based on the line of houses, ignoring the seaward stand alone house.

Four communities on Western Fire Island restored 7,300 feet (1.4 miles) of shoreline with 654,000 cubic yards of sand.  The project widens the beach .  The sand source was located 1.6 miles southeast of Lonelyville and contains approximately 3.5 million cubic yards of beach compatible sand.  The fill sand is coarser than the existing beach and bodes well for a long project life.  The project was built by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. using the hopper dredge Liberty Island, among the largest of its type. 

The community of Fire Island Pines (Town of Brookhaven) renourished their entire shorefront of 6,400 feet (1.2 miles) with 500,000 cubic yards of sand.  The sand source was located 1.0 mile southeast of the community and contains approximately 1.5 million cubic yards of beach compatible sand.  The fill sand is coarser than the native beach, which will contribute to storm protection and should extend the project life.  Suffolk County, NY piggy backed an emergency project to protect the TWA 800 memorial on the Pines project.  The County used the project permits and borrow area to fast track a 200,000 cy project at Smith Point Park. 

Finding beach compatible sand that will stand up to the north Atlantic Ocean wave climate was critical to the success of the project.  Over a decade of Corps, USGS and CPE geotechnical data was reviewed to locate potential sand targets.  In order to shorten the sand search time, a two phase directly managed investigation procedure was used.  A search phase and development phase were conducted during the same filed investigation cruise under the active management of CPE geologist, who evaluate the vibracores as they were taken, and redirected the operations to follow the good sand trends.  The process found and designed two borrow areas that contained coarse beach quality sand.  

 

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