Dredging work that will reconnect Sengekontacket Pond with Nantucket Sound at the northern inlet in Oak Bluffs, known by many as “Little Bridge,” began on schedule on Monday morning, June 1.
International Golf Co., in tandem with Island contractors Watercourse Construction and the R.M. Packer Co., will dredge the channel to a depth of five feet below mean low water and roughly 200 feet into Nantucket Sound. A large portion of the estimated 6,300 cubic yards of sand and gravel will go to replenish Pay Beach. Some of the finer, dry sand will cover the remnants of much-maligned dredge spoils placed on Inkwell Beach prior to last summer. The rockier dredge spoils will renourish the beaches closest to the Steamship Authority terminal. The remainder of the dredge material will be stored at the town highway barn.
The permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency gives the contractors, International Golf Construction Co., a month to complete the work. “If the weather cooperates, I think the work could be done much quicker,” Oak Bluffs town administrator Robert Whritenour said on Tuesday.
Seventy-five percent of the $350,000 cost will be covered by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds designated for Hurricane Sandy relief. Mr. Whritenour said this is the first time the town has received FEMA funds designated for Hurricane Sandy repairs. The storm hit the East Coast in October 2012.
