Ocean City beach renourishment on the way

Last week, the USACE Baltimore District joined Senator Van Hollen and Ocean City, Md., leadership along the Boardwalk to mark the upcoming beach renourishment cycle set to begin after the Labor Day holiday and conclude by next Memorial Day.

According to USACE, this cyclical work creates more than just a beautiful beach: the combination of a wide beach, a protective seawall, and a vegetated dune system has served as an engineering shield to prevent an estimated $927 million in storm damages since the early 1990s.

“This project succeeds because of the deep relationships built between our federal team, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Worcester County Government, the Town of Ocean City, the Marine Mining Administration, and our leaders in Congress,” USACE said.

Under the beach renourishment program, USACE will take a mix of sand and water from the seafloor at a shoal miles off the Ocean City coast. A pipeline will carry that slurry and blast it onto shore, where bulldozers will shape it into a long, sloping beach.