HomeMy Public PortalAbout20140820NR 14-52 - Sand Throwing Ceremony to be held for Tybee Island beach renourishment.pdfU.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS – SAVANNAH DISTRICT
100 W Oglethorpe Ave. Savannah, GA 31401
www.sas.usace.army.mil
For Immediate Release: Contact:
October 20, 2014 Billy E. Birdwell, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, 912.652.5014
News Release No. 14-52 billy.e.birdwell@usace.army.mil
After hours: Billy Birdwell 912-677-6039
Sand Throwing Ceremony to be held for Tybee Island beach renourishment
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The City of Tybee Island and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District are
scheduled to host a Sand Throwing Ceremony Oct. 21, 3:45 p.m. to signal the beginning of work on the shoreline
protection project. The event will be held on the beach side of Marlin Monroe. Shoreline protection is also known as
beach renourishment.
Participating in the event will be Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman, Corps Savannah District Commander Col. Thomas
Tickner, State Senator Buddy Carter, State Representative Ben Watson, and the Honorable Jack Kingston of the
U.S. House of Representatives 1st District of Georgia.
The City of Tybee Island and the Corps of Engineers jointly sponsor the project. The Corps will oversee the
construction. The federal government funds approximately 61 percent of the cost while the city funds the rest. This is
the first beach renourishment since 2008 at the ocean-front community.
The mayor of Tybee Island, Jason Buelterman, pointed out the years of work people from the city and the Corps of
Engineers put in to make the project happen. “This extremely important project is the culmination of several years’
worth of hard work on the part of the Corps’ Savannah District, the City of Tybee and our volunteer Tybee Beach
Task Force,” Buelterman said.
“We will pull beach-quality sand from about a mile off shore,” said Spencer Davis, the Corps’ manager for this
project. “We will pump the sand through a submerged steel pipeline to the shore where workers will use large
construction equipment to place and smooth the sand.” Approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sand will be added
to approximately 3 miles of beach front from the north beach near Old Fort Screven to 18th Street, south of the public
fishing pier. The project includes a small portion along Tybee Creek, known locally as the Back River.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Illinois, with expertise in this type of work, earned the
contract. Work will take approximately four months to complete.
As with similar past projects, sections of the beach will be closed to the public while workers operate in those
locations. As workers move to another section of beach, the newly renourished portions of the beach will reopen.
Adding sand to the shoreline helps protect the community from waves generated by passing storms. They have a
secondary benefit of enhancing public beaches.
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Photo caption: Fresh sand spews onto Tybee Island beaches during the 2008 shoreline protection (beach renourishment) project. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers awarded a contract Sept. 22, for the next installment of this project. Similar equipment and processes will begin in October and
last approximately four months. (File photo courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS – SAVANNAH DISTRICT
100 W Oglethorpe Ave. Savannah, GA 31401
www.sas.usace.army.mil
ABOUT US: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District plays a major role in water resource projects throughout the region. The District operates
three hydroelectric dam and reservoir projects on the Savannah River (Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, and J. Strom Thurmond); maintains the federal shipping
channels at the Savannah and Brunswick harbors; and processes Regulatory (stream/wetland) permits for development projects within the state of Georgia. The
District also oversees a multi-million dollar military construction program at 11 Army and Air Force installations in Georgia and North Carolina. The District
provides expertise across a wide range of disciplines--from engineering, architecture and design to construction, master planning and environmental services.
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