Superstorm Sandy's effect on many of the beaches of the East Coast was like a knife on burnt toast—scraping and scraping away, until, in some places, not much was left but rocks. But in a widespread and intensive effort that began last summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors began replenishing beaches and undoing years of erosion, work that is expected to continue through most of this year. The aim is to restore beaches to their original construction state.
"People who go to the beach will notice a big difference when they show up this year," says Manny Vianzon, a project manager for contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. "There's going to be about 100 more feet of beach than there used to be," he says, referring to his firm's $18-million restoration project at Asbury Park, N.J., set for mid-June completion.