Harsh weather has eaten the beach and chewed away at the dirt road out to Reel Point. It is so narrow that driving one vehicle through is treacherous. As Highway Superintendent Mark Ketcham prepared to leave from a site tour last Friday, a tractor trailer was backing down the road to deliver supplies. “I can't ask him to pull back out now,” Mr. Ketcham said.

So began a game of vehicular musical chairs to give Mr. Ketcham a way out. As he pulled past the trailer, Mr. Ketcham recalled a visit in 17-degree weather. He described the scene as being out of “Lawrence of Arabia.” The wind whipped sand off the giant piles that will be used to rebuild the beach. He wondered aloud how the contractors from Westhampton-based Chesterfield Associates could tolerate such conditions. Their response? “‘It's just another day for us,'” he recalled.

Business as usual has come to a stop at Shell Beach just once, Monday, March 2, the morning after a winter storm left 13 inches of snow on the Island and slippery roads. Even the die-hards from Chesterfield could not navigate through it. Tuesday morning, they were back at the beach shoveling out snow in order to continue their work. Their progress since then has been impressive, said local engineer Matt Sherman, whom the town hired to conduct daily site inspections. Try as it might, “weather hasn't hampered the operation at all,” Mr. Ketcham said.

For the project to come in before deadline, that mind-set must continue. The repairs are to be completed before the piping plover breeding season begins on March 31. As if that were not enough, town officials must coordinate with Dave Andrews of Elmira-based Fagan Engineering (the project designers), Chesterfield and Mr. Sherman, whom Mr. Ketcham has described as “a great asset” in communicating the project's progress to the town and conveying any questions the contractors have to Mr. Andrews.

As a result, whether by email, phone or person-to-person, Supervisor Jim Dougherty, Mr. Ketcham, Mr. Sherman and Councilman Peter Reich said communications have not been a problem. It has been helped by Mr. Andrews' willingness to drive down from Elmira, more than six hours one way, to help oversee the project. Mr. Reich and Mr. Ketcham did not expect to see so much of Mr. Andrews but have been pleasantly surprised. In addition to briefings with local officials, Mr. Andrews checks in with the site contractors to make sure the construction is to the proper specs.

Mr. Dougherty called the communication “amazing,” adding, “I think it's because we've maintained a full-court press. This is our very highest priority because it has to be done this month. I think it's gone very smoothly. We've been very demanding with Chesterfield. We're quite satisfied with their performance so far.”

That was not always the case. Mr. Sherman has tracked the  schedule “to make sure their progress was adequate” to meet the March 31 deadline. He added, “We had concerns right out of the gate as to the progress they were making” but Chesterfield has “ramped up” its pace to meet the town's need to restore the beach for public use. As of Tuesday, the last low-profile groin was finished. Mr. Andrews said they would hold up longer than the jetties they are replacing, some of which have holes in them. The low-profile groins have been installed to help interrupt littoral drift of the sand on the beach and to help prevent the scalloping effect seen around the old jetties. Mr. Sherman said Tuesday that the contractors were starting to pre-load the jetties with the stockpiles of sand that have made the beach look like a fort recently.

He also said progress on installing a three-tiered gabion system to armor the peninsula from erosion is on schedule. The gabions tilt slightly backwards from the water so as to ensure they do not topple over toward the water. Each tier will be wrapped in a landscaping covering. Chesterfield then will install plantings as outlined in the piping plover plan.

All that should be finished in time for Chesterfield to spend its last week on site cleaning up. Then the Highway Department will repave Oak Tree Lane from Peconic Avenue to a point slightly past the last driveway, though the distance has yet to be determined. The final steps involve seeding grass alongside and then grading the road to make it more user-friendly than the pockmarked pathway that exists now. Mr. Ketcham has little doubt that Chesterfield will complete its work on time. “They really have a can-do crew,” he said.

j.williams@sireporter.com

Add your comments below:

Your name:

Your email:

Subject:


Comments:



Enter text seen above: