Emergency repairs will be done at the coastal dunes just north of the Indian River Inlet and off of Route 1.
Two breaches at those dunes this year caused flooding on Route 1 that prompted closures. Last week, Gov. John Carney announced emergency repairs to help prevent any other issues.
"We've been working closely with DNREC, you know, obviously, this is a collaborative effort, DNREC being responsible for managing the dune system and the beaches along the inlet in that area, and then obviously we've got our infrastructure that DelDOT takes responsibility for," said C.R. McLeod, DelDOT’s community relations director.
DNREC and DelDOT are splitting the work. DNREC plans emergency sand replenishment in the coming months to protect the beach and Route 1 during the winter.
DelDOT will add additional metal sheets as part of the repairs.
"What we're going to be doing here before the end of the year is adding about 700 feet of additional sheetpiling, and sheetpiling is really just a large sheets of steel that will be driven down into the ground adjacent to the road surface on the eastern side there of northbound route one," said McLeod.
DelDOT’s work begins in the coming weeks, while DNREC is negotiating with contractors to get the largest available dredge at several borrow sites as soon as possible for the nourishment project.
DNREC is holding a public information session on the emergency repairs and long-term plans September 25 at Bethany Beach Town Hall.
That town hall will run from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
