The Bethany-South Bethany Beach nourishment and storm damage reduction project covers 2.8 miles of oceanfront between the two Delaware towns. Dredging of sand concluded in February with almost 3.8 million cubic yards of sand having been pumped ashore to bolster the beach. The photos below follow the progession of the nourishment and storm damage reduction project as sand is taken from a "borrow site" offshore then pumped inland to create a beach a minimum of 150 feet in width with a 25-foot wide dune crest.
| The dredging ship RN Weeks plies the borrow site off Bethany Beach for sand. |
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The Weeks' draghead arm, a sweeping apparatus, is submerged into the ocean to extract sand from the borrow site. |
| Sand taken up from the borrow site by the draghead arm flows into the RN Weeks' "hopper" before it is pumped ashore. |
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Sand that has been brought ashore is spread to reconstruct and bolster the beachfront - in this case, a dune that faces north from South Bethany... |
| ...and distributed over a landward "toe" of a recently constructed dune also in South Bethany... |
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...as progress of the beach nourishment and restoration effort marches onward, continuing from South Bethany Beach toward Fenwick Island. |
Photos by Jennifer Wheatley
