Dredge Illinois Is Working at West Hampton Dunes

The Great Lakes Dredge & Dock 30-inch cutter dredge Illinois is working on a beach renourishment and maintenance dredging project on the south shore of Long Island New York. The dredge was moved from the West Coast through the Panama Canal for this and other East Coast projects. The $13595100 project consists of dredging a million cubic yards of sand from the Moriches and Shinnecock Inlets Borrow Area a mile to two miles offshore of Westhampton for renourishment of the West Hampton Dunes beach. An option is for an additional 200000 cubic yards to be placed west of Shinnecock.

In 2007 the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association named West Hampton Dunes one of America’s top restored beaches.

The citation stated: “West Hampton Dunes represents a blueprint for shoreline restoration and habitat enrichment. At one time the beach was a poster child for coastal mismanagement plagued by erosion and poor responses to destructive storms. No longer. A dedicated corps of local state and federal officials worked hard to restore its coasts and the fragile wildlife habitat along its shores making West Hampton Dunes one of our nations premier beaches.”

“The shoreline of what is now the Village of West Hampton Dunes began experiencing increased erosion following the construction of a groin fields east of the village. This eventually led to extensive over wash and a breach of the barrier island in 1992. Since that time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Suffolk County Department of Public Works and the Village of West Hampton Dunes have worked together to successfully restore the beach boost public access and safeguard endangered wildlife habitat.”