Rehoboth Boardwalk repair estimate: $150,000 -$400,000

During the height of the recent winter storm, waves from the Atlantic Ocean crashed through the dune at the north end of Rehoboth Beach, rushed under the boardwalk and then broke – smashing against the wooden decking from the bottom up.

In all, a city consulting engineer estimates repairing the storm-damaged boardwalk from Grenoble Place to Surf Avenue will cost somewhere between $150,000 to $400,000.

Now city officials are trying to figure out how they will pay for the repairs.

City Commissioner Stan Mills sees three options: Hope for a federal disaster declaration and the federal help that would come with that; seek assistance from Delaware lawmakers or pay for the work out of the municipal budget.

"It was the wave action" that did the damage, said Mills, who oversaw reconstruction of the boardwalk in a job that started in

2005. "It lifted the entire wood structure up and dropped it back down," he said.

In most places, that decking fell back into place like pieces in a puzzle. But at the far north end, the deck landed out of kilter.

That, however, was just part of the damage. The metal straps, sometimes called hurricane ties, that held the decking in place broke where the waves lifted the decking. That caused the boards on the front and back face of the walkway to crack, Mills said.

The engineer should have a better estimate of the damage once he gets a closer look at each section to determine what can be salvaged and what needs replacement, Mills said.

Initially, state officials thought damage to public infrastructure from the storm wasn't that significant but over the last week, as damage assessments have come in, they've determined there are enough losses to ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to come in and conduct a joint damage assessment with state teams, said Gary Laing, a spokesman for the Delaware Emergency Management Agency. That would be the first step in seeking federal disaster help.

That assessment will go to Gov. Jack Markell, who then will decide whether to ask for a federal disaster declaration, Laing said.

The governor should make that decision sometime next week, Laing said.

Ocean coast municipalities were especially hard hit during the storm, which hit much of Delaware with snow. Along the coast, the snow switched to rain and was accompanied by strong northeast winds, a record high tide in Lewes, flooding and extensive shoreline erosion.

Besides the boardwalk damage in Rehoboth, a large section of the popular Gordons Pond bike trail was washed out and has been closed for repairs, and the steps that lead from the bathhouse to the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park were smashed.

Elsewhere along the coast, there was significant loss of sand and in some areas, dunes were badly damaged or destroyed. Some of that lost sand has started to return to near shore and state crews this week started pushing it back onto beaches to restore lost dunes.

Mills said that from the top of the boardwalk in Rehoboth, the damage doesn't look all that bad but from the bottom up, it is significant in the three blocks or so from Grenoble Place to Surf Avenue.

Rehoboth's boardwalk was recently rebuilt to be more storm

resilient. Work started in 2005 with the city putting up $2.4 million for the first portion of a three-phase reconstruction project. Then in 2009, $5.5 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money was used to complete the rebuild.

Rehoboth has had a boardwalk since 1873 and it has been damaged and replaced many times – most recently, prior to the rebuild,  after a winter storm in January 1992.

Mills said that with the redesign, the old wooden support pilings were replaced with concrete ones that extend 20 to 30 feet into the sand. In addition,  precast, concrete rails add strength to the structure.

Wooden stringers – like what is typically used on a home deck, provide the support layer for the wooden walkway. The walkway is connected to the stringers and support system with hurricane ties. Two ledger boards frame the inner and outer edges of the boardwalk and keep it an independent structure. It is not tied in to the buildings that line the walkways – a step taken to minimize adjacent property damage, Mills said.

"What would the scenario be without the wide beach and healthy dune?" Mills said.

Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.