OCEAN CITY -- Post-storm evaluations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicate its efforts in conjunction with Ocean City to protect resort beaches played a role in preventing damage from Hurricane Irene.
Sand dunes are the main facet of the Maryland Hurricane Shoreline Protection Project, completed in 1991 with a price tag of $42 million, and they held up for the most part over the weekend. Surf reached the dunes during the storm, but did not overtake them -- partially because the storm's strongest moments occurred during low tide.
"The dunes did their job, and I'm glad they're still there," said Mayor Rick Meehan.
Ocean City's beaches are periodically replenished; the most recent work took place in May.
The project also included a concrete-capped sheetpile bulkhead along the Boardwalk and the placement of 3.6 million cubic yards of sand along the coastline that widened the beach.
"Ocean City appears to be in great shape, and we're proud to say that is a direct result of this project," said Baltimore District Commander Col. Dave Anderson, who visited the town with Project Manager Kevin Brennan on Monday.
The Corps finished a beach replenishment project on Fenwick Island Aug. 13 which allowed the beaches to hold up very well during the storm, according to Town Manager Win Abbott.
During the storm, some of the beach had moved about 30 yards out toward the ocean, but that change is expected to be short-lived, with the sand migrating back onto the shore.
"With natural wind and wave action, it'll build right back up again," Abbott said, adding the project probably paid for itself many times over with the protection it provided during Irene alone.
The Corps' Philadelphia District is slated to begin work on a similar project in Bethany Beach soon after Labor Day, and spokesman Ed Voigt said it is still on schedule despite the storm.
At Assateague Island National Seashore, park rangers allow the beach to experience its natural progression, and haven't designed any projects to minimize storm damage. Irene moved a lot of sand around and changed the shoreline "fairly dramatically," but there wasn't any ocean to bay overwash that reduces beach on the east and adds to the west side of the island, according to Carl Zimmerman, a management assistant at the park.
Park staff were cleaning up the island Monday for a Tuesday reopening. Some of the campgrounds were flooded during the storm, however, and Zimmerman says they won't open until Wednesday, with some staying closed until closer to the holiday weekend.
Sand dunes are the main facet of the Maryland Hurricane Shoreline Protection Project, completed in 1991 with a price tag of $42 million, and they held up for the most part over the weekend. Surf reached the dunes during the storm, but did not overtake them -- partially because the storm's strongest moments occurred during low tide.
"The dunes did their job, and I'm glad they're still there," said Mayor Rick Meehan.
Ocean City's beaches are periodically replenished; the most recent work took place in May.
The project also included a concrete-capped sheetpile bulkhead along the Boardwalk and the placement of 3.6 million cubic yards of sand along the coastline that widened the beach.
"Ocean City appears to be in great shape, and we're proud to say that is a direct result of this project," said Baltimore District Commander Col. Dave Anderson, who visited the town with Project Manager Kevin Brennan on Monday.
The Corps finished a beach replenishment project on Fenwick Island Aug. 13 which allowed the beaches to hold up very well during the storm, according to Town Manager Win Abbott.
During the storm, some of the beach had moved about 30 yards out toward the ocean, but that change is expected to be short-lived, with the sand migrating back onto the shore.
"With natural wind and wave action, it'll build right back up again," Abbott said, adding the project probably paid for itself many times over with the protection it provided during Irene alone.
The Corps' Philadelphia District is slated to begin work on a similar project in Bethany Beach soon after Labor Day, and spokesman Ed Voigt said it is still on schedule despite the storm.
At Assateague Island National Seashore, park rangers allow the beach to experience its natural progression, and haven't designed any projects to minimize storm damage. Irene moved a lot of sand around and changed the shoreline "fairly dramatically," but there wasn't any ocean to bay overwash that reduces beach on the east and adds to the west side of the island, according to Carl Zimmerman, a management assistant at the park.
Park staff were cleaning up the island Monday for a Tuesday reopening. Some of the campgrounds were flooded during the storm, however, and Zimmerman says they won't open until Wednesday, with some staying closed until closer to the holiday weekend.
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