News

Sandbags repaired, reinforced on island

By Victor Tine
Staff writer
Published: November 20, 2009

PLUM ISLAND — A three-man crew yesterday began repairing and reinforcing the network of giant sandbags protecting Plum Island Center from the sea.

Working under the direction of consulting engineer David Vine, the workers from the Lexington-based erosion control company Netco installed a 27-foot-long sandbag at the front of the network at its southerly end, nearest the stone groin at the Center.

The work is intended to reinforce what amounts to an artificial dune in an area of the island with the worst erosion, from Plum Island Center to about 16 Northern Blvd.

Town Administrator Chuck Kostro said the Netco crew is also scheduled to replace some of the bags, and to refill and repair others. Last weekend's storm, which lashed the coast with rough surf, damaged some of the bags.

He said the job is expected to take only a few days.

"We'd like to have it done by this weekend. We've asked if they could work Saturday," he said.

He said the price is expected to be around $15,000, depending on how much Saturday overtime adds to the cost.

The sandbag network has been financed by re-allocating funds from a state grant that was awarded to Plum Island Taxpayers and Associates, originally to construct a building at the Center to house public restrooms and store lifeguards' equipment.

The sandbags were installed in November and December 2008 to try to slow down erosion at the Center until a more permanent solution could be found.

A house at 16R Northern Blvd. was lost in November 2008 after it was undermined so badly by the surf that it had to be demolished.

The current reinforcement project could be the last time such work is needed, at least for several years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to dredge the Merrimack River channel and deposit the sand yielded in the operation onto the beach at the island and Salisbury.

Plum Island is slated to receive as much as 120,000 cubic yards of sand, which could add about 20 feet of dune and another 50 feet of beach width to a 2,500-foot-long stretch of shoreline from the Center northward to about 80 Northern Blvd.

The work is tentatively scheduled to begin in early January and be completed by the end of March.