NAHANT — Town plans for four seawall improvement and storm protection projects aimed at eliminating heavy flooding have been submitted to state environmental officials for review.
Short Beach dune and playground; Doggie Beach; the 40 Steps beach slope, and Fallon Way seawall top the town’s project list. Stoneham-based Coughlin Environmental Services, LLC is filing environmental notification forms for the projects to the state Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary for review.
“The filing is for a project to repair damage caused by the 2018 storm that led to massive flooding in Nahant,” said Town Administrator Antonio Barletta.
The Jan. 4 storm combined with high tide to flood local streets, making them impassable, and cutting off the Causeway. Residents were ordered to shelter in place as Public Works crews struggled to pump storm water out of streets.
The Willow Road project includes revetment repair and stabilization. Revetments are reinforced walls designed to hold back storm surges and heavy seas to minimize flooding.
The Parrott Road and Fallon Way work focuses on the seawall while the 40 Steps project includes improvements at the Step’s base where waves hit. The Short Beach dune and playground work and Doggie Beach revetment project is important, Barletta said, to eliminating the flooding the town experienced in 2018.
“This project specifically is to repair the Little Nahant side of Short Beach and across the street at Doggie Beach. These areas of dune on both beaches experienced damage from the surging tide of that storm,” he said.
The state Office of Coastal Zone Management website details the complex role seawalls and revetments play in holding back storms without contributing to beach erosion.
“Coastal engineering structures were originally utilized to prevent erosion and protect development and infrastructure from waves and storm surge. The unintended effects of hard structures on the shoreline system were not initially well understood, however, and significant long-term impacts have been documented in areas where these structures were constructed,” the site states, adding:
“While seawalls and revetments can help protect landward property and infrastructure from waves and tides, they do not stop (and may exacerbate) erosion. As natural erosive forces continue to remove sediment over time, beaches in front of the hard structures are diminished and can eventually be completely lost. Seawalls and revetments themselves can also exacerbate erosion problems by reflecting waves onto the beach in front of them or onto neighboring properties.”
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
