Emergency Revetment Repair Approved At Minister’s Point

CHATHAM – Major erosion issues have crept around the corner of Chatham and struck at Minister’s Point, and not for the first time.

While property owners along the south side of Morris Island fight swift currents that have destroyed 20-year-old revetments, two property owners in North Chatham last week secured emergency approval to repair and shore up revetments that are in danger of collapsing.

Properties at 26 and 2 Salt Pond Rd. have seen erosion eat away at existing revetments. The situation is particularly dire at 2 Salt Pond Rd., where currents have scoured out a channel 12 to 18 feet deep at the foot of the wall, engineer Bob Perry told the conservation commission July 10. The toe of the revetment appears to have shifted causing large stones to slide off but leaving bedding stones in place.

“We can’t predict what’s going to happen here,” Perry said.

Coastal Resource Director Ted Keon said emergency work on the wall is warranted, “given the uncertainty of the stability of the remaining portions of the revetment.”

Portions of the revetment previously failed in 2018 due to similar conditions, Keon wrote in a memo. The wall was repaired, but similar strong tidal currents continue. The recent slumping of the wall “exposes a sufficient portion of the vulnerable coastal bank to potential damage from ocean waves that could compromise the integrity of the remaining armor stone,” he wrote. The extent of the scouring at the base of the revetment is unknown, he added, “and additional slumping may be imminent under certain conditions.”

If the revetment fails further, there could be “substantial” loss of upland and possible damage to the house, which would introduce debris and potentially hazardous materials into Chatham Harbor, Keon wrote.

Perry said the repair work is a stop-gap measure and further exploration will be done to assess the status of the remainder of the revetment.

The conservation commission approved the emergency restoration as well as a 35-foot extension of the revetment next door at 26 Salt Pond Rd.

Meanwhile, work on repairing a failed revetment at 97 Tilipi Run has been suspended until the fall. An emergency certification issued in March expired July 3, said Conservation Agent Paul Wightman, and the conservation commission last week reviewed a full notice of intent filed for restoration of the wall protecting a $20 million home.

About a third of the necessary underwater work for the project has been completed, said engineer Dan Ciarmicoli of Tighe and Bond. The new wall will be built farther shoreward than the original, with an apron of rock extending out about 120 feet to address the current current scouring.

Ciarmoicoli said it will take about two months to complete the work once it restarts after Labor Day. That will be right in the middle of hurricane season, commissioner Janet Williams pointed out.

“Fingers crossed on that,” she commented.

Review of the permit request was continued until July 24, with the commission especially asking for a mitigation plan to address trees that have fallen into the water due to the erosion.