4/2/2007
Volume 37, Number 105
Division of Parks and Recreation
Contact: Patrick Cooper, Cape Henlopen State Park Administrator, phone:
(302) 645-8983
or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, phone: (302) 739-9902
Herring Point Beach to Close for Reconstruction of
Erosion Control Structures
Beginning Thursday, April 5, Herring Point and its parking area will be
closed to the public while two deteriorated groins intended to control beach
erosion are replaced. Located at the south end of Cape Henlopen State Park
near the Biden Center, the stretch of beach is popular with surfers,
swimmers, anglers, beachgoers and history buffs who come to see its historic
gun battery.
On March 15, DNREC Secretary John A. Hughes approved the Division of Soil
and Water Conservation’s application for a subaqueous lands permit and water
quality certification to rebuild the groins. The $1.5 million project will
involve removing timber remnants from the old groins and adding stone to
rebuild the groins and extend their length to the base of the Herring Point
sand bluff to better protect the gun battery and overlook parking lot and to
build up the beach for improved recreational use.
The 300-foot long groins were built out of timber and rock in the mid-1950s
by the United States government as part of the Fort Miles Military
Reservation, an important army base which protected the entrance to the
Delaware Bay. The Herring Point land was added to Cape Henlopen State Park
in 1983, and along with the rest of the former fort, was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Placed about 800 feet apart,
the groins were built to protect the sand bluff on which the fort’s gun
battery rests. The groins were designed to control the natural movement of
sand along the shoreline by allowing it to accumulate on the updrift side of
the groin.
“These groins did their job for several decades, but now they’re falling
apart. They’re relics of what they were intended to be,” said Environmental
Scientist Michael Powell of the Division of Soil and Water Conservation. The
failing structures have allowed erosion to narrow the beach and let the sea
come in close enough to damage the parking area, Powell added. Last fall,
after parts of the sand bluff collapsed, the park closed parts of the
overlook out of concern for public safety.
“We want to ensure that our visitors are safe, number one, and number two,
that they can enjoy the park and all it has to offer – and we hope to
continue to provide these benefits far into the future. That’s why this work
is so important,” said Cape Henlopen State Park Administrator Patrick
Cooper, noting hopes are to open the beach as soon as possible for the
summer season, depending on how the work progresses.
Cooper also stressed that the beach, parking area and parking along the road
will all be closed to the public, including surf fishers, while work is in
progress. “The only access to that area will be at the four-wheel drive
crossing for vehicles with a valid surf fishing permit,” he said. Access to
the park’s beach to the north and south of Herring Point will remain open.
For more information, please call the Cape Henlopen State Park office at
302-645-8983 or visit
www.destateparks.com/chsp/chsp.htm.
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