Work underway on West Point shoreline protection project

Work is underway to prevent further erosion of the shoreline alongCedar Dunes Provincial Park in western P.E.I..

The goal is to protect the beaches and nearby infrastructure, including the West Point Lighthouse.

"Cedar Dunes in West Point, it's a popular tourist destination and it's an important part of the local economy and the western region of P.E.I. in general," said Brian Thompson, a director with the province's department of transportation and infrastructure.

"It's a very important project, and we're looking forward to completing it and watching the success of the project into the future."

The focal point is a one-kilometre stretch of shoreline that starts at the West Point Lighthouse and extends around Cedar Dunes Provincial Park.

• Project to install stone structures aims to prevent future erosion at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park

Six stone structures, each about 50 metres long,are being built approximately 25 metres from the shore.Each one is 16 metres wide at thebase, tapering to four metres at the top. They're expected tohelp minimize damageto the dune system and shoreline.

Approximately 11,000 tonnes of stone will be used forthe structures. Work on the project has been underway since December.

"We contracted a very reputable coastal engineering firm to look at the offshore wave patterns and the sediment transport patterns, the coastal environment in its entirety around Cedar Dunes and West Point and beyond," Thompson said.

"They developedwhat they believe to be the best approach to address the erosion."

Success in Souris paved way for West Point project

Thompson said a similar model was used to protect the beach and causeway in Souris a few years ago.

"It's been highly successful," he said. "The beach has stabilized. In fact, it has built up a little bit, as we had hoped, behind the offshore reefs. So we're fairly confident going forward that the methods that we're using, although they are innovative,they've proven successful so far."

Thompson said with storm surge events increasing in both intensity and frequency, this type of work will become more important to protect shorelines and nearby infrastructure on P.E.I.

"It's an issue now," said Thompson. "It's going to continue to be a bigger issue as time goes on. And there's lots of infrastructure all around the coasts of the province. And our beaches and dune systems themselves are a wonderful feature that we don't want to lose."

Thompson said his team is also working to develop plans to protect the shoreline at Crowbush and Lakeside as well as Basin Head and Panmure Island causeway.

He said the Cedar Dunes project is coming together ahead of schedule and should be complete by mid-Marchand on budget, at $1.4 million.