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Wave action caused by strong northeasterly ocean currents over the weekend have damaged steel pilings put into place for expansion of the Rehoboth Beach stormwater outflow system.
Project Superintendent Bruce Enslen of George & Lynch Inc., said that the pressure of moving sand and ocean waves caused a number of steel pilings to twist and bend.
The damaged pilings are on the beach at Boardwalk and Grenoble Place.
Enslen said it has not yet been determined how many pilings have been damaged.
Damage above ground level is evident, but some of the pilings might be damaged under the sand, he said.
All damaged pilings will have to be pulled up and replaced, adding to the cost of the project, he said.
He said just how much more replacement of the damaged pilings will add to the cost of the project wouldn’t be known until the full extent of the damage can be determined.
The price tag of the stormwater pipeline expansion is $2.2 million, according to Rehoboth Beach City Manager Greg Ferrese.
The steel pilings are the main component in the construction of a coffer, a structure used to hold back ocean water while outfall pipelines are being installed.
Enslen said that after the pipeline is constructed and in place, the coffer is removed. Ferrese said the storm water pipeline now ends beneath the boardwalk. The work now being done is in preparation of extending the pipeline 360 feet offshore into the ocean.
So far, 200 feet of pipeline has been put into place parallel to the boardwalk, Enslen said.
The next phase of the beach widening and replenishment project comes when the Army Corps of Engineers pumps 2.1 million cubic yards of sand onto Rehoboth Beach. That work is scheduled to start in March and continue for 105 days. Pumping will begin in Dewey Beach and move northward to Rehoboth Beach.
Enslen said the first phase of the work remains on schedule for completion in January 2005.
He said the damaged steel pilings wouldn’t affect the completion date.
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