Beach replenishment is an impressive process to watch

Taking into account the ongoing beach replenishment immediately north of the Indian River Inlet, I’ve reported on at least half a dozen of the dune-fortifying projects over the past decade. That accounts for millions of cubic yards of sand.

The replenishment projects are important to the local area for a number of reasons, primarily protection of infrastructure and support of the tourism economy. From mobilization to demobilization, the work often takes well over a month – especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate. I always go down to the construction site multiple times, every time, because readers want the updates.

I also go down so often because I enjoy watching the big machines at work. It’s an impressive operation to see in person.

Tractors that look like adult-sized Tonka Trucks gliding along the top of the sand, moving Lincoln Log-looking steel pipes from the staging area to the construction zone.

The beach sand causes the tracks to make a high-pitched whine, but excavators in the construction zone can delicately move the 40-foot-long, 2-ton pipes into a specific location so they can be connected to extend the replenishment area.

There’s also the dredge out in the Atlantic. The one out there for the current project is a cutter dredge named Illinois. It’s 309 feet long, 67 feet wide, has a maximum digging depth of 75 feet, has an 11,300-horsepower engine and can operate in seas reaching nearly 10 feet.

During another replenishment project nearly a decade ago, a different, but similar, dredge was used. I was told the suction power of that dredge was strong enough to pick up a small Volkswagen.

If this type of work appeals to you, I recommend going down to see what’s taking place at the inlet. But make it soon. The current project is about to wrap up, and with no replenishment scheduled anywhere else around here anytime in the immediate future, it might be your last chance for a while.

Chris needs to pick up his paper bag-making game

It’s been a few years since grocery stores in Delaware were required to stop providing plastic bags at checkout. Soon after the law went into place, the Food Lion in Milton began offering paper bags. Soon after that, I noticed the paper bag manufacturer for Food Lion has first names on the bottoms of their paper bags. I’m assuming it’s the same at all Food Lions and being done as a quality-control measure.

A few months ago, the name on the bottom of the bag was Chris. For obvious reasons that caught my eye. What also caught my eye was the quality of the bag making. It was poor. Very poor. Definitely the worst of all the paper-bag assemblers. Paper bags are already flimsy, but one that’s poorly made can lead to a dozen eggs or a glass container of spaghetti sauce splattered on the ground.

Not surprisingly, my wife thought it was amusing that my namesake was easily the worst paper-bag assembler at the paper-bag-assembling factory. Fortunately for my eggs, my experience with the Chris-made bags was limited.

I finally saw the name Chris on the bottom of a stack of paper bags the other week. I took a picture. I got the what-are-you-doing look from the woman at the register. I said my name is Chris. Again, the bag-assembling technique was questionable.

The woman’s immediate response was, “Chris needs to get better at putting bags together.”

To which I said, “That’s what my wife said.”

Joke of the Week

I feel like fall this year has been a little bit warmer than normal. I don’t have specific data, but we’ve only recently turned the heat on. We were reminded earlier this week that winter, and the associated winds that can whip across the low-lying lands of the Delmarva Peninsula, are coming. Here’s a joke about the cold. As always, send joke submissions to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: Why was the snowman rummaging through the bag of carrots?

A: He was picking his nose.