Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, LLC, of Houston, TX, has started preparatory work on the Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) Coastal-Storm Risk-Management Project.
Work under the initial contract will reduce flood risk for vulnerable areas along an 83-mile stretch of Long Island’s barrier islands and back-bay communities from Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point.
According to the Corps, work on the first contract of the FIMP project began in late September, but a formal ground-breaking ceremony to recognize the initiation of the FIMP project will be held upon the arrival of equipment and the start of work.
The $47.5 million contract that was awarded to GLDD earlier this month includes hydraulic dredging of over 1.5 million cubic yards of sand from Fire Island Inlet. The sand will be strategically placed on updrift and downdrift beaches to reduce erosion and strengthen coastal resiliency.
Approximately 802,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed west along Gilgo Beach, and 716,000 cubic yards of sand will go west on Robert Moses State Park.
New York District Commander Col. Matthew W. Luzzatto stated: “Awarding this first contract allows our District to enter the construction phase, providing increased coastal-storm risk-reduction measures for residents of these communities.”
The work marks the beginning of a comprehensive, multi-year $1.7 billion Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) Coastal-Storm Risk-Management Project that includes a variety of features to reduce coastal flood risks. The work is fully federally funded under Public Law 113-2, the Emergency Supplemental Bill passed shortly after Superstorm Sandy. The project will undertake the following:
The US Army Corps of Engineers, New York District will lead construction efforts in concert with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the non-federal sponsor, in cooperation with Suffolk County, the Towns of Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Southampton and Easthampton who were the signatories on the Project Partnership Agreement and local agreements executed over the last two months that have brought the FIMP project to fruition.