The Dead Neck Dune Restoration Project is a long-term barrier beach erosion management program that includes beach replenishment, dune stabilization, and dredging.  The Woods Hole Group has been involved with shoreline management at Dead Neck since the mid 1980s, performing coastal processes analyses, field surveys, engineering design, environmental permitting, and construction oversight.  Our long-term experience with barrier beach processes, demonstrated by the Dead Neck Project, will benefit the Holly Beach Project.

Dead Neck is a barrier island on the south coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is eroding due to the installation of updrift jetties, the armoring of adjacent coastal bluffs, and ongoing background erosion processes.  The island is valued for the shore protection it affords landward properties, its recreational value, and its classification as a bird sanctuary by the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

In 1998-1999, more than 200,000 cubic yards of clean, beach-compatible sand were dredged from nearby navigation channels and hydraulically pumped to Dead Neck Island.  The project improved storm protection on Dead Neck, enhanced tidal circulation in the Three bays Estuary, and improved navigation.

The Woods Hole Group obtained the local, state, and federal environmental permits for the project.  The permit scope required extensive fieldwork, such as sediment coring, bathymetry surveying, beach profile surveying, and biological resource assessments.  Engineering permit drawings were prepared, and all the information was packaged in a clear and concise format for the environmental permit applications.  Permits were obtained in time for scheduled construction.  The project was completed, and has improved Dead Neck Island and the Three Bays Estuarine environment.

The Woods Hole Group will continue to support this project in the future by monitoring the performance of the beach replenishment and assisting the Three Bays Preservation with the preparation and implementation of the Estuary Management Plan.