Lynnhaven Inlet dredging project takes hit from storm

VIRGINIA BEACH

Federal officials are trying to determine how much recently dredged sand the nor'easter swept back into Lynnhaven Inlet.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to clear the navigation channel between the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay was nearly 70 percent complete when the storm hit last week.

As part of the project, crews are pumping the dredged sand on the Cape Henry beaches, providing many of the residents there needed protection against the weather.

"At this time, it appears the storm has caused additional shoaling in the channel," Kristin McCord Mazur, who is managing the dredging project for the Corps of Engineers, said in an e-mail.

Mazur said she expects to know the extent of the re-shoaling by the end of the week. If additional sand has to be dredged, it will probably cost more money, she said. The dredging and replenishment is about a $1.5 million project.

For some residents who live along the Chesapeake Bay, the necessity of the sand from this dredging project recently became more apparent.

R.J. McGinnis, who lives in the Ships Watch Condominiums, said there are exposed bulkheads near his home.

"Generally, it's a wreck over there," McGinnis said.

He and other residents were concerned that there wouldn't be enough sand to expand the beach all the way to First Landing State Park, as initially planned.

For now, the Corps of Engineers expects to have enough sand to fill up to a block east of the Lynnhaven Fishing Pier, said Phill Roehrs, the city's water resources engineer.

City officials have asked the corps to consider creating a narrower beach with the rest of the dredged material.

That would allow crews to extend the dredged sand a few more blocks and provide some of the property owners to the east a wider beach, Roehrs said.

The replenishment of this beach has been a point of contention.

Virginia Beach officials asked Bay-front property owners to sign over public easements to their property in exchange for the sand.

Some landowners, mostly near the Lesner Bridge, unsuccessfully argued in court that the city was infringing on their property rights.

But property owners to their east wanted the sand for protection against storms.

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com