Following last weekend’s dune breach near Route 1, the DNREC is still repairing the dunes north of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.

In the hours following the break, Route 1 near the bridge was closed in both directions due to flooding.

Kathleen Bergin is a field program manager in DNREC’s Division of Coastal and Waterways Management.

“It was quite significant that both DNREC and DelDOT officials decided to use rip rap, or large rocks, along the border as a temporary roadway safety measure to We can try it and maybe future editions as we work on this renewal process,” Bergin said.

DNREC does not normally take action to protect fortified shorelines, but the immediate urgency of this breach required it to protect critical highway infrastructure.

Bergin says it was a perfect storm that caused the rupture and flooding.

“We had the trifecta of all the bad things we hate to see. We had a full moon. We had very strong winds and a coastal storm right offshore that pushed water into the shorelines,” Bergin said. “So everything that could go wrong went wrong. It was an exceptionally high tide, just naturally as part of the monthly cycle.”

With the help of the Department of Transportation (DelDOT), sand is also being delivered by truck to be used together with the rubble to rebuild the dune.

Bergin adds that they hope to be able to carry out a much more extensive sand replenishment for this dune.

DNREC points out that there are several ways to place more rocks at the weakest point of the dune, where another failure is likely to occur.

DNREC and DelDOT will evaluate this toward the end of the hurricane season.

DNREC advises beachgoers that the beach on the north side of the bay is an active construction site and access will be restricted during construction.