DESCRIPTION: The project area is located on the south shore of Long Island in the Borough of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, and consists of approximately 3 miles of beachfront. The project provides storm damage protection to the densely populated urban communities and infrastructure located along the shoreline of Coney Island. Shore protection was provided by constructing a 100-foot wide beach berm at an elevation of 13 feet above sea level.
The project included the construction of an 850-foot long terminal groin on the westernmost end of the project at West 37th Street. A fillet of sand was placed in the private community of Sea Gate to protect the groin against flanking and to prevent down drift conditions from deteriorating beyond those that existed before construction of the project. The project also includes periodic nourishment of the restored beaches on 10-year cycle for a period of 50 years.
The non-Federal sponsor for the project is the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
AUTHORIZATION: Project Construction was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, as modified by Section 1076 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act of 1991. Public Law 99-662 of the 1986 act called for Federal participation in beach restoration 250 feet beyond the historic shoreline at Coney Island with the construction and maintenance of the additional beach width to be cost shared between Federal and non-Federal interests. The project was further modified by the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-541) to include the construction of T-groins in the area west of the West 37th Street terminal groin.
STATUS: The initial construction of the Coney Island shoreline protection project (West 37th Street to Brighton Beach) was completed in January 1995.
- The total cost of the initial construction contract is cost shared at 65 percent Federal and 35% non-Fed. Due to the rapid rate of beach erosion down drift of the West 37th Street groin in the community of Sea Gate, approximately 600 tons of stone were placed adjacent to the West 37th Street groin in April 1996 to prevent a possible flanking condition.
- In June 1996, approximately 35,000 cubic yards of sand was placed adjacent to this groin to provide additional protection from potential flanking.
- In 2001, a stone revetment was constructed in this area to protect the groin and the west end of the project area from the continued threat of flanking caused by storm induced waves.
- A contract to remove accumulated sand along the Gravesend Bay area in the community of Sea Gate was awarded in February 2004 to provide temporary relief to the area from windblown sand while a long-term solution is developed.
- A Reevaluation Report & Environmental Assessment was completed in January 2005, which recommended the construction of a series of T-groins to the west of the West 37th Street groin as a long-term solution to beach erosion and sand accumulation problems that have occurred in the Sea Gate area. The Sea Gate portion of the project was an Authorized but Unconstructed project according to P.L 113-2 (The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013). Because of this, the Sea Gate portions of the project was funded at the 100% Federal cost of $33M. Project construction of the T-groins, and placement of 75,000 cubic yards of sand began in 2014 and was completed in 2016.
- Renourishment Phase: the several components of the surveillance plan and monitoring phase of the beach to determine the need for periodic nourishment will be initiated in 2024.
CONTACT:
Mr. Ahmed Radwan
Project Manager
P: 917-790-6155
Email: Ahmed.M.Radwan@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – NY District
Programs and Project Management Division
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: NY-08