Even on a chilly winter day, you can find people enjoying Hammonasset State Park in Madison, so when two back-to-back storms took the sand away from the shoreline, park officials at Hammonasset knew it would need to be replenished.
Cue the Army Corps of Engineers.
Crews are dredging the Clinton Harbor and sending over the sand that has been dug up, funneling it through pumps onto East Beach at Hammonasset, all at no cost to the park.
“We suffered a lot of damage from storms, losing a lot of our beaches. This is really going to benefit us,” Hammonasset State Park Supervisor Henry Alves said.
While the work is going on, East Beach is closed to the public. It will reopen when work is done in about a month.
“For those people who use the beach, I think it's absolutely great. I think it's a wonderful idea,” Rivard said.
There's just one thing that might take park-goers off guard. While the sand is being pumped in, it might not look like the typical sand you see on the beach.
“It comes up as very dark, but once it hits the atmosphere and has a chance to bleach out, it will look just like the rest of the beach. There are no concerns. It's very, very clean. Everything's been tested,” said Alves.
“I think Hammonasset is an asset to Connecticut,” said Ron Rivard, of Madison.
Photo Credit: Amanda Raus, NBC Connecticut