Closing Bell: Sand Will Return to Rockaway Beaches This Season

The New York Times reports the good news that the sand is coming back to Rockaway beaches — 2.9 million cubic yards, to be exact. (That’s enough sand to fill more than two Empire State Buildings!) Expected to start this month and last through the summer, the project will bring sand to the stretch between Beach 19th and Beach 149th Streets and elevate the beach as much as 10 to 14 feet above sea level. An additional two feet of sand will go up along the boardwalk as added buffer. The added sand will be dredged from the ocean bottom offshore, then sprayed on the beaches through a large pipe. The work was supposed to begin in early winter, but was delayed because the dredge needed was finishing up a job in Delaware.

According to the Parks Department, the sand replenishment will happen concurrently with the boardwalk reconstruction. The city plans to begin the boardwalk construction sometime this spring and the work will last until 2017.

In Rockaways, Infusion of Sand Will Soon Raise Beaches Hit by a Hurricane [NY Times]

Photo by *Bitch Cakes*