DelDOT and DNREC are working together to repair a dune breach Sunday evening on Route 1 north of the Indian River Inlet Bridge.
At around 7 p.m. Sunday evening, both lanes of northbound Route 1 north of the bridge were flooded due to a hurricane several hundred miles away, a full moon and high tide.
Later, the water entered the southbound lanes, forcing them to be closed as well. However, the southbound lanes were reopened at 2:30 a.m. Monday morning.
Later Monday morning, at approximately 9:45 a.m., the left northbound lane was opened, but the other lane remained closed as DNREC worked on the dune gap.
As DNREC work continues, there are plans to temporarily close the northbound lanes over the next few days.
CR McLeod, DelDOT’s director of public information, says this is the plan for the next few days.
“There is ongoing work going on here, so additional lane closures may be necessary at times just to ensure safe access for vehicles and workers to safely enter and exit the area and continue their work,” McLeod said.
McLeod points out that while DNREC is responsible for repairing the dunes, DelDOT is helping out by using its trucks to haul in rocks and sand.
McLeod says they are working with DNREC to find a permanent solution to prevent these dune breaches.
“Our approach is to look at both short-term and long-term solutions. The short-term, of course, would be to ensure that these types of problems do not occur so frequently. This is the second time we have had this problem this year, the last time was in March. Ideally, we can minimize it,” McLeod said.
McLeod adds that DelDOT’s Resilience and Sustainability Division is keeping a long-term eye on this area, as well as other coastal areas in the state.
