THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080205
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
The annual truck haul of sand to the resort beach began this month, but with a slightly different twist this year.
The beach will be nourished on a two-month schedule that minimizes the disturbance to spring visitors to the resort area. That includes suspending sand hauls on weekends in April and avoiding work on popular stretches of beach during holidays and special events.
``We coordinated with the hotel-motel group to reduce the impacts on the shoulder season visitors,'' said Phillip Roehrs, city coastal engineer.
``We've published a schedule telling exactly where we'll be and when we'll be there.''
Resort business owners are pleased with the changes.
``The business community is really delighted that there's been this kind of cooperation,'' said Mary Pat Fortier, executive director of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association.
Problems arose last year when bad weather combined with limited access to the beach because some stub streets were under construction. It caused work to stall for a long period at a busy beach area during a busy time, spring break.
``It's unfortunate what happened last year,'' Roehrs said. ``Hotels there were really impacted. They were losing business.''
This year during spring breaks trucks will be working on the northern end of the resort strip, which is not as heavily used at that time of year.
``This is an annual rite of spring for us,'' said Henry Richardson, president of the Hotel and Motel Association. ``We need the sand and sometimes you have to have some minor inconveniences to accomplish what you are trying to do.''
About 150,000 cubic yards of sand - that's 15,000 truck loads - will be spread along the beach from Rudee Inlet to 49th Street.
About 50,000 cubic yards are being trucked in from the Lynnhaven Inlet sand stockpile. That portion of the project will be finished before repairs to the Lesner Bridge start in mid-March.
The remaining 100,000 cubic yards will come from a private borrow pit on Princess Anne Road.
Most of the sand will be used north of the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier at 15th Street. The south beach is nourished with sand pumped from the ongoing Rudee Inlet dredging project.
The $1.1 million project project should be complete by May 3, barring bad weather. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for 65 percent of the cost, and the city's share is 35 percent.
KEYWORDS: BEACH EROSION by CNB