BROADKILL BEACH, De. - Neighbors at Broadkill Beach have been calling for beach replenishment for decades. Now after all this time, their prayers are being answered.
"It's my home," said Jim Bailey of Broadkill Beach.
Bailey has lived just a block away from the beach for more than three decades. He also is the President of The Broadkill Beach Preservation Association. He said the beach has slowly been chipped away by erosion, leaving many homes vulnerable.
"It gets scary," he said. "No ifs, ands, or buts about that. Especially during any kind of storm event."
Now a congressional plan is going to replenish this beach, without Delaware paying at all. The Army Corp of Engineers issued a contract back in June, 2014 for a New Jersey firm to dredge part of the channel off of Sussex County at a cost of $63 million.
That sand will then be pumped onto Broadkill Beach, through a replenishment effort. When all is said and done, Broadkill Beach will have received 1.9 million cubic yards of sand from the center of the Delaware Bay Shipping Channel. That will push the shoreline out by approximately 50 yards.
This Sussex County project is one of eight, spanning up the Delaware Bay from the Port of Philadelphia to the mouth of the bay. This dredging project will remove sand from 102 miles of the shipping channel.
"We are delighted," said Bailey. "Everybody is happy."
The project will begin on Monday, according to the Army Corp of Engineers. The contractor will have until April of 2016 to complete the project. The federal government will be paying for 65 percent of the project, with the remaining costs being covered by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. Delaware will not be responsible for any of the costs.
Life-long visitor Sara Desmond said the project would make the beach a tourist destination.
"It's really exciting," she said. "It makes me happy that the town is growing."
