FIMI Project
This morning we had the all-important meeting between the five eastern communities, the FIMI contractor, Weeks Marine, and the Army Corps of Engineers at which Weeks and the ACE presented the plans for the construction of the dune and the dune walk crossovers. The two dredges to be used for our project are currently wrapping up a project in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, and that project will finish in mid-July. The dredges will then move to Davis Park and sand placement will begin there in late July or early August and finish in late August. The contractor will then move to the Water Island work, which will take only a short time to complete. Work should be starting in the Pines in early September, with the sand placement beginning in the middle of the community and moving first east and then west. The target date for completion in the Pines is early to late October. The entire project for all of the eastern communities should be complete at the end of November.
The equipment to move the sand and build the new dunes is now moving into Davis Park and delivery of all equipment should be completed next week. Thereafter the equipment will move down the beach from community to community.
The contract for the dune crossovers has been awarded to Brownie and Company, the same company that did the demolition work in the eastern communities. Brownie will remove the existing walks in the communities prior to sand placement, install temporary crossovers, and at the same time drive the piles for the new crossovers. This work will take place approximately one to two weeks before sand placement begins. During sand placement in the Pines, some walks will be closed temporarily, and when sand placement is completed the contractor will return to finish the crossovers. More details on all of this will follow subsequently.
The contractor will block off thousand-foot sections of our beach as sand placement proceeds. They will move at the rate of anywhere from 100 to 300 feet per day depending on the density of the fill being placed at different locations. The sand placement will be ongoing 24 hours a day/7 days a week during the project. The two dredges will be parked approximately 3,200 feet off shore, with one pumping as the other is loading. We are told that this operation will be quite a sight (!). A surveying contract has been awarded to Seismic Survey. This company will be monitoring ocean front homes for any damage that could be caused by the sand placement. They will be contacting ocean front homeowners shortly to make arrangements for inspections and surveys of the houses, with seismic monitors to be mounted near the houses. Seismic Survey will then alert the contractor of any potential movement before actual damage happens. In the event that the seismic monitors indicate problems, an alternative construction plan will be developed.
I asked some pointed questions about the potential for delays. I was told that common delays could occur in connection with the movement of the equipment coming across the bay, hence the large lead time for the delivery of the equipment. The movement of the dredges to Fire Island is pretty straight forward, and should not contribute to a delay. And from now on, we will be having weekly meetings with the contractors and the ACE on the progress of the project, so we will keep our residents informed.
