NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — When you return to the beaches in East Ocean View next summer, you will likely notice something has changed.

The beach will be larger.

Roughly 14,000 cubic yards of sand from the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion project is being repurposed for emergency beach replenishment in East Ocean View and East Beach according to the City of Norfolk.

The work is expected to begin January 8 at the earliest, and take until early March to complete. It will cost taxpayers $550,000.

While the work is completed, East Ocean View Beach will be closed to the public from the 21st Bay beach access ramp to the Little Creek jetty.

Norfolk officials posted information about the project on social media Wednesday.

The replenishment is based on the Army Corps of Engineer’s erosion assessment.

Norfolk conducts a beach condition survey twice a year, as part of a contract with a coastal engineering consultant. The data received from these surveys is used to identify any trends in coastal erosion. The latest data available to the public is from a Spring 2023 evaluation of Ocean View, which you can view at this link. It was conducted last May and examined the area from the western end of Willoughby Spit to the western edge of Little Creek Inlet in East Ocean View.

The nourishment was last completed in 2017 and according to the corps was supposed to last until 2026.

However Norfolk Councilman Tommy Smigiel, who represents the area, said the sand has vanished at an “alarming rate.”

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