Interested parties are hereby notified that a request for permission to alter a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project pursuant to Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. Section 408) has been received and will be evaluated by the Norfolk District. Written comments, including any objections to the proposed alteration, stating reasons therefor, are being solicited from anyone having an interest in the requested alteration. The authority to grant permission for temporary or permanent use, occupation or alteration of any USACE civil works project is contained in Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, as amended, codified at 33 USC 408 (“Section 408”). Section 408 authorizes the Secretary of the Army to grant permission for the alteration or occupation or use of a USACE project if the Secretary determines that the activity will not be injurious to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the project.
A Joint Permit Application (VMRC#20-1504) has been received from the City of Hampton to renourish a section of Buckroe Beach approximately 3,483 feet in length, from Pilot Avenue to Resort Boulevard, in Hampton, Virginia. The purpose of the beach renourishment project is to provide protection to the roadways and structures along Buckroe Beach from erosion and storm damage. The plan proposes the placement of 275,000 cubic yards of beach quality sand, to a design berm width of approximately 180 feet at an elevation 7.4 feet North American Vertical Datum (NAVD). The total encroachment would impact approximately 4.99 acres of intertidal area and 25.37 acres of subaqueous bottom. The source of the beach sand will be a borrow area referred to as Horseshoe Shoals, located about 2 miles offshore. Horseshoe shoals Borrow Area was used as the sand source for renourishment at Buckroe Beach in 1990, 1996 and 2005. The material will be hydraulically pumped from the borrow site to the beach and then shaped to the design provided on drawings included in the Joint Permit Application. A portion of this project falls within the footprint of the USACE Chesapeake Bay Shoreline, Hampton, Virginia, Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project, which originally entailed a design berm width of 50 feet, to an elevation of 5.4 feet NAVD.
A copy of the Joint Permit Application can be obtained here: https://webapps.mrc.virginia.gov/public/habitat/
Written comments may be submitted via mail to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District
803 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510-1096
ATTN: Kathy Perdue
Or email to Kathy.S.Perdue@usace.army.mil
If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Perdue by telephone at 757-201-7218 or via email at Kathy.S.Perdue@usace.army.mil.
Comments are due by February 2, 2021.