Ocean City's boardwalk beach is getting a $25.7 million makeover after a nor'easter tore through the coastal town, flooding streets and chewing away at the dunes that keep the ocean at bay. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has hired Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company to rebuild the shoreline, with sand-pumping work expected to begin sometime between late 2026 and early 2027.
Storm Left Beach and Dunes in Tatters
The contract, first detailed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, goes to the Houston, Texas-based dredging firm and calls for placing roughly 982,000 cubic yards of sand to restore the beach berm — the wide, flat stretch of sand in front of the boardwalk and dunes — to its full design elevation, according to CBS News. The Baltimore banner has reported that periodic renourishment involves pumping more than 800,000 cubic yards of sand; the Southern Maryland Chronicle has described the project as a $27 million effort covering roughly eight miles of shoreline. The Corps itself has attributed the $25.7 million figure and the 982,000-cubic-yard estimate to the newly awarded contract.
The nor'easter brought heavy rain and gusty winds to coastal areas along the East Coast, and in Ocean City it translated into flooding and beach erosion that washed away portions of both the beach and its dunes, per the Corps. That kind of damage isn't entirely unexpected — the engineered beach is designed to act as a sacrificial buffer, eroding during storms to blunt surge before the dune system, then healing itself over time, according to WBAL-TV. The storm caused beach and dune erosion.
Sand Will Travel From Offshore Shoal
Crews plan to dredge sand from Weaver Shoal, a source more than seven miles offshore of Ocean City, and pump it onto the beach to rebuild the engineered sand ridge, the Corps said. The work is expected to wrap up before Memorial Day 2027, timed to protect the summer tourist season that draws more than 8 million visitors to Ocean City's shores annually.
This isn't the first time the town has needed a sand refresh. Ocean City's beach has been renourished seven times since its initial construction was completed in 1994, with the most recent contract completed in 2021. Renourishment on this beach generally happens every four years, and the Corps noted that routine maintenance work had already been scheduled before the storm hit — meaning the upcoming project will address both the recent erosion and the regular replenishment cycle. The Southern Maryland Chronicle has reported that Ocean City's last full replenishment came in the winter of 2021-22 and that the beach went into this storm already overdue for new sand.
A Costly Storm for a Tourist Economy
The storm's toll went beyond sand. Organizers of the Oceans Calling music festival canceled all days of the event because of the flooding and erosion, a blow to a town where the festival and its companion event, Country Calling, together brought in about $300 million last year, according to the town's tourism and business development director as cited by the Southern Maryland Chronicle. The nor'easter's reach extended well beyond Maryland, too — a slow-moving system carved away beaches up and down New Jersey's Jersey Shore around the same time, per NJ.com, while four Delaware beach communities were already facing their own replenishment delays tied to funding and easement holdups, according to Delaware Public Media.
Federal-State Partnership Foots the Bill
Funding for the Ocean City project is split among the Department of the Army, the state of Maryland, Worcester County and the town itself, the Corps said. Francis B. Pera of the Corps said the agency is working with local and state partners to ensure continued risk reduction throughout the region. The Corps estimates the broader Ocean City beach project — which relies on sand and vegetation to shield the coastline from severe storm surges and flooding — has prevented more than $927 million in storm damage since construction began in 1990, underscoring why officials consider the engineered beach essential to protecting the town's boardwalk, homes and other infrastructure ahead of another summer season.
