With both dredges working at Fire Island Pines, the beach had been filled to Coast Guard Walk by the weekend. More than 65,000 cubic yards of “excellent quality” sand has been placed at the Pines, according to Dr. Quin Robertson of Coastal Planning and Engineering. With double pumping, the Pines should be completed ahead of schedule and both dredges will then move to Davis Park, where the submerged pipeline is almost ready.

Equipment problems and brutal weather have combined to cause delay in the beach replenishment projects, but at this writing both dredges are in operation at Fire Island Pines. Weeks Marine (WMI) completed pumping sand in the Western Fire Island reach on Saturday and moved pipe and equipment to Fire Island Pines and Davis Park. The submerged pipeline (“sub-line” for short) is in place at the Pines and pumping began today with both dredges in operation as soon as the winds and high seas that accompanied the March 2 storm settled down. The sub-line that been used in the western reach will be taken directly to Davis Park (instead of to the central reach as planned) in order to be sure that the eastern-most community can be completed before any sign of Piping Plovers. An unexpected appearance by plovers could require the project to be shut down; most plover colonies are well east of the settled communities.

Both WMI dredges will be working in the Pines as the Davis Park site is prepared. Davis Park is only two-thirds the length of the Pines and there should be no trouble completing it by March 31, barring equipment breakdowns. As soon as Davis is completed the sub-line will be transferred to the central reach, where plover nesting has never been seen.

Winter weather is not conducive to beach building, but the risk to endangered species is too great to do it when seas are calmer (not to mention warmer). Had the project started in mid-November, as hoped, the March 31 completion date would not have been a problem. But permitting and bidding delays could not be avoided. WMI is working 24-7 to get the job done within the time allotted and has asked for the permit to be extended should that prove necessary.

The photo at right shows the first load of sand (about 2500 cubic yards) being pumped onto the beach near the Fair Harbor-Saltaire border by Weeks Marine, Inc (WMI) on Wednesday, January 27. (Click on the photo for a larger image.) Another eight loads were pumped before the operation shut down due to rough seas at around 7:00 a.m. on Thursday. Dredging is expected to resume on Friday, when the storm should have passed. Pumping will go on 24/7, weather permitting, until all the projects are completed.  The hopper dredge shown in the photo (the R.N. Weeks) is attached to a pumping station that moves the sand to the beach through a submerged line. The borrow area (sand source) is not where the vessel is sitting in the photograph, but approximately 1.6 miles southeast from the project location.  The pumping platform will stay where it is until the western reach (Saltaire to Lonelyville) is completed. Then the submerged pipeline and floating hose will be relocated to the next (central) reach. A second pumping platform and submerged pipeline will be used for the Fire Island Pines and Davis Park projects, starting in mid-February.

The beach is now closed to driving, except for emergency vehicles, between the Kismet Cut and the Town of Islip Beach (Atlantique).

Coastal Planning & Engineering reports:

Dredging for the 2008-2009 Fire Island Beach Renourishment project is predicted to start as early as Saturday evening, or more likely sometime on Sunday, January 25, 2009, weather allowing.  Construction will start in Fair Harbor, and move west initially. During the first day or two of pumping, the beach will be open to traffic.  Once a substantial amount of sand is placed upon the beach, traffic must be detoured around the construction area, except for emergency vehicles.  Traffic will be detoured to the inland road between Kismet Cut and the Town of Islip Beach cut to the east of Lonelyville.  A detour sign will be placed at the Kismet cut.

During construction, scheduled to last a couple of months, detours and beach closures should be anticipated.  Beach closures will occur in the following order: Western Fire Island Communities (Saltaire to Lonelyville), Fire Island Pines, Central Fire Island Communities (Cornielle Estates and Summer Club to Ocean Bay Park), and Davis Park.

Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc. will have a field representative (N. Sharp or Q. Robertson) on site during construction and can be reached locally at 631-387-7320 or at their main office 561-391-8102.

Alternating Points of contact for the dredger (Weeks Marine Inc.) are as follows:

Dean Robinson: 985-705-2970 for the next two weeks

Mike Ward: 985-237-5037

Weeks Marine can also be reached at their office in Bay Shore at: 631-328-5821

The following is from Fire Island National Seashore.

For more information go to the Links page and click on Fire Island

National Seashore/newsreleases.

Beach Nourishment Projects To Begin on Fire Island;
      Work Expected to be Completed by the end of March 2009
      Several beach nourishment projects on Fire Island are scheduled to

      begin by late December or early January.  The projects, which are

      being undertaken by Suffolk County and eleven Fire Island

      communities, are expected to be completed by March 31, 2009.   
continue reading "News From FINS on Community Beach Protection Projects"
    

ON SPENCER’S POINT

How Oceans Attract Us

By Bob Spencer

Alluring. Mysterious. Relaxing. Inspiring. Awesome. This is what an ocean offers.

And — sniffing the salt laden air, as one approaches the seaside, just adds to an ocean’s appeal.

I first became inspired by the ocean when in my teens, and I would sit by a summer sea in the evening and watch a full moon slowly rise out of the Atlantic. I promised myself then and there that I would seek to recreate such a feeling over my life span. Because it made my mind come alive, it becomes a catalyst of the imagination.

An ocean can reveal its infinite beauty – it can also raise its haunches in powerful strokes of stormy winds and tides to cause a show of respect.

continue reading "How Oceans Attract Us"

ON SPENCER’S POINT

On the Nature of Fire Island

By
Bob Spencer

On a summer afternoon, I sometimes can imagine myself
suspended in mid-air about twenty feet above the oceanside
dunes of Fire Island.

Fire Island has many moods of a
simple order. On a clear sunny day, I can see many miles out to the blue sea
and miles along its sandy and grass-green shores as well.
continue reading "On the Nature of Fire Island"

By Bob Spencer

Many readers will be aware of some of the story about how Fire Island was saved from the paving of a highway, atop a sand-dike that had been first proposed by Robert Moses back in 1924, when he first became head of the Long Island State Park Commission. With each major storm after that, Bob Moses came back time and again with his same idea. But here, this reporter will try to set down a bit more on how the people of Fire Island, and just across the Great South Bay pulled off a little miracle.
continue reading "How Fire Island was Saved from being Paved Over"