More of this coming to Sea Pines starting today

Sea Pines residents and visitors could start seeing more sand on the beach this week.

The South Island Emergency Beach Fill project is expected to begin today, according to a release. As part of the project, about 300,000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped in along about 12,000 feet of Atlantic shorefront.

The $3.8 million project will be similar to the island’s 2016 beach renourishment project, which involved replacing lost sand and re-establishing dunes, Scott Liggett, the town’s chief engineer and director of public projects and facilities, said previously.

Once work begins, it’s expected to move along the shore at a rate of up to 500 feet per day. About 1,000 feet of beach access will be restricted each day, according to a previous release.

Marinex Construction’s cutterhead suction dredge, a vessel equipped with a rotating head that is able to cut hard soil into fragments, will be in local waters, the release said. There will also be tug boats, barges and other support vessels.

Submerged pipeline between the sand borrow site and the beach has been put in place, and a pipeline landing has been established near Green Winged Teal Street, the release said.

A previous release said the project will occur in two phases. The first phase will pump sand from the pipeline landing to around beach marker 12, by Brown Pelican Street. The second phase, which will start in early September, will pump sand to around beach marker 34, by East Beach Lagoon Drive.

Schedule updates will be available on the town’s website. Weather and mechanical capabilities could impact the schedule, a previous release said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 2:07 PM with the headline "More of this coming to Sea Pines starting today."