Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund seeks Corps permit to place fill to renourish beach

Project Updates - April 5, 2007

The Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund is seeking a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers to conduct work in conjunction with a large scale beach nourishment project proposed on Nantucket Island, Mass.

The proposed project involves work below the mean high water line and the discharge of dredged or fill material in order to construct a large-scale beach nourishment project proposed to protect approximately 3.1 miles of eroding coast along the eastern shoreline of Nantucket Island.

Approximately 2.6 million cubic yards of beach compatible sediment would be hydraulically dredged from a 195-acre borrow site located approximately 2.9 miles east of Nantucket in water that is 30-60ft deep.

The material would then be transported to Sconset Beach in Nantucket and pumped onto the project shoreline from a barge or dredge as a sand/water slurry.

The proposed project will provide beach and dune nourishment for approximately 3.1 miles of shoreline on Nantucket extending south from Sesachacha Pond, past Sankaty Head Lighthouse to Codfish Park and the Village of Siasconset, and includes dune restoration at Codfish Park and dune construction at the Town Sewer Beds.

The design calls for 2.7 miles of beach nourishment coupled with 0.35 miles of dune restoration/creation with 1,100ft at Codfish Park and 800 feet at the Town Sewer Beds.

Project construction is scheduled to occur during the months of June to November.

The proposed beach nourishment will fill approximately 9.6 acres of the nearshore intertidal zone and 109.9 acres of the nearshore subtidal zone. After equilibration of the beach, an additional 177.4 acres of the nearshore subtidal zone will be covered for a total of 287.3 acres of subtidal zone.

Within the subtidal area, approximately 105 acres of cobble/sand bottom and 29.5 acres of hard bottom will be covered with the beach nourishment material.