Pelham Bay Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Army Corps Awards $10.6 Million Contract For Shoreline Protection At Orchard Beach

Malcolm Pinckney

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has awarded a $10.6 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill., to place approximately 250,000 cubic yards of beach fill onto Orchard Beach in the Bronx and to repair the beach's existing south groin.

The work will help combat erosion at Orchard Beach by replacing lost sand and repairing the south groin to inhibit future erosion. It will also make the beach safer by relieving overcrowding and eliminating dangerous drop-off zones.

"This project represents an outstanding investment of public dollars to provide the great people of the Bronx with a first-class recreational beach in these tough economic times," said New York District Commander Col. John R. Boulé. "We're excited to be partnering with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to restore Orchard Beach."

The project is a cost-sharing partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, with 50 percent of funding provided by the Corps of Engineers and 50 percent of funding provided by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

Work will begin in October and will be completed before the beginning of the 2011 summer beach season. This summer, over 1.4 million New Yorkers visited Orchard Beach.

"Parks is pleased to partner with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replenish sand at Orchard Beach, known as the 'Riviera of the Bronx,'" said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "This WPA-era, man-made beach was last nourished with sand in 1964. Over time, the beach has lost sand naturally due to tides, winds, waves and storms. We hope to add as much as 250,000 cubic yards of sand -- or the equivalent of 15,000 dump truck loads that will be barged to the site -- to restore this popular crescent-shaped beach for millions of visitors to enjoy beginning next season."

New York District is responsible for the Corps of Engineers' water resource development, navigation, and regulatory activities in northeastern New Jersey, eastern and south-central New York State, including the New York Harbor and Long Island, and parts of Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The District is also responsible for design and construction at Army and Air Force installations in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and overseas in Greenland.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
C.S. Lewis
(1898 - 1963)