By Brian Gilliland

DEWEY BEACH — With repairs set for later this month on the Indian River Inlet, the Army Corps of Engineers will be holding an information session regarding access to the site this week.

The work — to repair a failed bulkhead along the north shoreline and tighten sand at the jetty along the south shoreline — was recently awarded to a New Jersey firm for $5.3 million.

Construction is set to begin later in April, but the date is undetermined, according to the agency.

“A deep scour hole caused by swift tidal currents within the inlet has undermined the slope of the ‘stabilized’ shoreline and landward infrastructure. Additionally, the contract calls for sand tightening a 215-foot section of the south jetty. This work will involve installing steel sheet piling to reduce the amount of sand migrating into the inlet,” according to an Army Corps press release.

Multiple operations, as well as public access, are expected to be impacted by the project. No completion date has been published.

The Army Corps of Engineers is coordinating with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the contractor regarding vehicle traffic to the inlet at Delaware Seashore State Park. Further, Delaware State Parks operations are expected to be impacted for the duration.

Corps workers continue to conduct geotechnical and structural analyses for repair work on the north jetty, the agency noted. This has not yet been awarded as part of a contract.

“The project authorization includes stabilizing the inlet by construction of parallel jetties 500’ apart; the dredging of a channel generally 200’ wide and 15’ deep from the inner ends of the jetties to a point in the bay substantially 7,000’ from the ocean shoreline, dredging a channel nine feet deep, 100’ wide in the bay and 80’ wide in the river, from that depth in the existing channel in Indian River Bay to and including a turning basin nine feet deep, 175’ wide and 300’ long at Old Landing; then about 8,200’ to highway bridge at Millsboro, 60’ wide, four feet deep,” according to a congressional fact sheet describing the initiative.

The work has been funded via by bipartisan infrastructure law, passed in 2021, and its goal is to provide a safe navigation channel for commercial, recreational and U.S. Coast Guard use.

Indian River Inlet is the only water access point into the Delaware inland bay area, which includes Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay, the fact sheet notes.

The meeting Friday, April 12, will take place at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach, 1301 Coastal Highway. It will begin at 11 a.m. in an open-house format, followed by a presentation and a Q&A session.