THOMPSON ISLAND, Del. - Construction is underway off Thompson Island in Rehoboth Bay, where the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays are installing 400 wave attenuation devices to combat shoreline erosion.
The effort aims to protect the island’s fragile ecosystem and preserve its shoreline by reducing wave energy before it reaches land.
Each device is 3x3x3 weighing 2600 pounds.
"These aren’t going anywhere," said Doug Janiec, the project’s designer. "There’s no storm in this bay that’s going to move these. The bay just doesn’t have the energy. These will be here for generations."
Each device weighs about 2,600 pounds and is made of reinforced concrete.
"The wave attenuation devices are reinforced with polypropylene fiber mesh mixed into the concrete," said Jim Talbott, executive vice president of Gillespie Precast, the company manufacturing the structures. "That’s what gives them their strength."
Thompson Island is a restricted area and nature preserve due to its ecological importance and deep cultural ties to the Nanticoke Indian Tribe.
Thompson Island is a restricted area and nature preserve due to its ecological importance and deep cultural ties to the Nanticoke Indian Tribe.
"Thompson Island is a very important cultural asset for the state of Delaware," said Bob Collins with the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.
This construction marks the completion of the project’s first phase, funded at roughly $1 million. Three additional phases are planned, each expected to require similar funding.
Funding for the first phase was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, and the state of Delaware.