WEEKEND #3, 2005

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Rehoboth Beach replenishment in full swing!

Above is the view in front of the Henlopen Hotel for the past few days. As of this weekend, parts of the beach have been closed between the Henlopen jetty and the Rehoboth Avenue jetty.

The dredge Manhattan Island (below) pumps a slurry of sand and ocean water to shore using a pipeline that connects to the beach off Rehoboth Avenue. A perpendicular pipeline expands along the beach as new sand gradually fills the area. Two dredges, Manhattan Island and Dodge Island, pick up the sand from the area southeast of the Indian River Inlet (about eight to 10 miles south of Rehoboth Avenue), then haul it to Rehoboth. The tug Miami River is the black, white and blue vessel. Among other tasks, it often helps to steady the dredge and pipe as sand is pumped to the beach.

Check where the dredges are now: http://henney.com/sp

Once on the beach, bulldozers distribute the sand along the shore and help expand the pipe system. Seagulls pick morsels of food from the often-smelly sand.

A stair extraction crew struggles to remove the Rehoboth Avenue stairs. This area is now covered by sand that will eventually make up the new dune.

Even at night, the work continues with portable lighting systems and quieter back-up beepers.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company is the contractor performing dredging.