Anyone walking along North Kenai Beach recently has probably noticed a big pile of rocks sitting on the north shore of the Kenai River near its mouth. It’s where work on a decades-in-the-making bluff stabilization berm is starting.
The first load of rocks arrived in Kenai last week by barge from Sand Point, in the Aleutians. For the next several months, barges will go back and forth between Kenai and Sand Point to drop off rocks for the berm.
When completed, the City of Kenai’s bluff stabilization project will put a 5,000-foot rock berm from roughly the river mouth to the city dock. The berm aims to stabilize the adjacent berm, which loses about three feet each year due to erosion.
Project leaders said at a community meeting last month they’ve been crushing rock in Sand Point since a ceremonial project ribbon cutting last summer. The project manager has said they hope to build between 30 and 50 feet of rock per day.
Work is expected to continue through at least the end of summer, with work scheduled around tidal fluctuations.
