SWAMPSCOTT — Work is underway to repair storm damage at Eisman’s Beach, which includes improving access to the beach and fixing damage to the seawall.
Eisman’s Beach, located on Puritan Road, sustained major damage during the March 3 Nor’easter — a portion of the seawall cap, the walkway behind the wall in front of the park and the steps on the south side of the wall were destroyed, according to Gino Cresta, department of public works (DPW) director and assistant town administrator.
Cresta said work has been completed on repairing the damaged concrete cap on the top of the wall, and repairs have also been made to the concrete steps at the south entrance to the beach.
He said the asphalt walkway will be replaced by next week, weather permitting, as most of it got uplifted when the tide was coming over the wall. Also behind the wall is a large grass area that was covered with rocks and sand following the storm, which needed to be cleaned up.
The area had been roped off with caution tape, and the purpose of the work was so that people would be able to access the beach, Cresta said.
“Plus, (we were) getting numerous complaints from residents of the road that it was unsightly to see all of the rocks and sand on the grass,” he said.
In addition, he said the town’s contracted landscaping company wasn’t able to cut the grass.
The project started at the beginning of the month, with all of the work done in house by the DPW. Cresta anticipates the cost will be about $10,000, for materials — DPW is providing all the labor and equipment.
“The beach doesn’t look too bad,” Cresta said. “It’s the area above the beach and a lot of residents sit on the cap of the wall.”
But there’s still much work to do to repair the two-foot thick seawall, he said, which the town will have to go to bid for in the fall — the additional work is expected to cost between $50,000 to $75,000, and is expected to be completed before the winter.
Cresta said a mason contractor will work to fill in some of the large voids in the face of the concrete wall, and a second company will be brought in to apply a thick coat of cement over the base of the wall.
He said some of the voids are going in eight to 10 inches, and would tear straight through, allowing water to seep in, if not repaired. The wall was already damaged, but the storm exacerbated the damage.
To pay for the project, Cresta said there was $139,000 in surplus funds from the Paradise Road drainage project transferred from Town Meeting. The remaining funds would go toward fixing the King’s Beach seawall, which has some holes that are starting to show. In addition, some of the concrete is worn off.
Abbe Smith, a Puritan Road resident who lives right on Eisman’s Beach and works as the manager of the classified department for Essex Media Group, the parent company of the Daily Item, said she thinks the seawall is weakened and needs to be taller.
Smith said the town is doing what it can now, but is concerned about hurricane season, which begins in June. She’s lived on Puritan Road for eight years — in the first seven years, the tide from two storms has come up to her house, but this year, there were two storms in three months where that occurred.
“Other communities have a curved seawall so it sends water back instead of up and over,” Smith said. “I think it needs to be redesigned for what’s going on in the community right now.”
