A new boardwalk look underfoot

Visitors to the Bethany Beach boardwalk this summer might have notice a few changes from last summer, beyond the damage done to the reconstructed dune during the Veteran’s Day storms of 2009, though those changes could easily be missed from a distance. But, really, the changes are right there, under their… feet.

Bethany Beach officials this spring approved improvements to the beach area, employing two cutting-edge products: Kebony lumber for the boardwalk and the Mobi-Mat system to improve the crossovers for the dune.

The Kebony lumber is a relatively new product in the U.S. but has been used in Europe, explained Town Manager Cliff Graviet in proposing this spring that the product be used for the scheduled restoration of a section of the boardwalk in front of the bandstand.

“Its chemical makeup has been altered, and it’s been treated so it’s very enduring,” Graviet told council members.

Enduring is right, with a rating for a possible 50-year lifespan and a 25-year warranty. That’s similar to rainforest hardwoods, whose use is frowned upon as depleting that vital resource. It far exceeds the seven-year lifespan of the salt-treated wood the town has traditionally used to restore the boardwalk as it becomes worn. The Kebony material is less likely to crack, peel and splinter, Graviet said, and is much harder.

With manufacturers “very anxious to get their produce into the U.S.,” Graviet said, they’d cut the price they would charge the town for enough lumber to restore the area in front of the bandstand, and just to its north and south, from $106,000 to $63,000, in hopes that the town’s restored Kebony boardwalk will help persuade others to begin using the product.

That price comes in at just $13,000 more than the salt-treated lumber that the town would have to replace in five to six years, Graviet emphasized.

“In future years, we’ll look at completing the rest of the boardwalk restoration with Kebony,” he said.

Though the material starts off darker than the salt-treated lumber it now abuts on the boardwalk, Graviet emphasized that transmission of the summer sun’s heat from the Kebony to beachgoers’ feet is not a problem – a concern of some who have dealt with other engineered decking materials.

“Heat is not a problem … because it is wood,” Graviet pointed out.

The Kebony starts off a dark brown but weathers to a similar color as the existing salt-treated boardwalk lumber, minus the cracking and peeling that can necessitate its replacement and extra care from visitors. Additionally, Graviet said, Kebony is installed with stainless steel screws, instead of nails, which have a habit of popping up from the salt-treated lumber. That means an even safer surface for all those tens of thousands of pairs of feet that tread the Bethany Beach Boardwalk on a given summer Saturday.

“I’m anticipating a nice look when it’s completed, and I do believe that we’ll get some good wear and be quite happy with the project,” Graviet said this week.

He said he expects to do the restoration of the north end of the boardwalk with Kebony in 2011.

Mats aim to make dune crossing easier

The other change to the look and feel of the Bethany Beach beach-going experience this year is the appearance of Mobi-Mats – “a durable, flexible and storable hard surface” that the town has decided to use as a solution to deterioration-prone packed-sand dune crossovers from the boardwalk and beach-end streets to the oceanfront beach. Already, six of the mats have been installed, with the remaining dozen to go in over the next week or so.

Graviet said the mats are “easily handled by one or two people and can be installed and moved as needed. … They will be a great answer to the problems with the crossovers to the beach,” he added, noting that they are already being used in a number of areas “with great success. It makes accessing the beach an entirely different experience,” he said.

The mats are laid across the peak of the dune and down to its front toe, with some areas being supplemented with additional mats at the toe, to make crossings over the steeper slopes even easier.

The town had asked the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to support the installation of the mats by sharing the cost, since the restoration of the dune crossings has lagged and town officials have found the crossing material to be less than satisfactory in its durability, but they hadn’t received a response on the issue from DNREC coming into the summer season – so they decided to act on their own.

“We’re taking this positive action in lieu of the slow actions of DNREC to solve the beach access problems,” said Councilman Jack Gordon at the council’s June 18 meeting, at which they voted unanimously to purchase 18 “recreational path kits,” for $89,988, to outfit the town’s dune crossings.

A sample of the Mobi-Mats had been installed along the Campbell Street dune crossing in May, giving the town and its visitors a chance to check out whether the product lived up to its billing as making the trek across the dune an easier one.

The response was a positive one, leading to the council’s decision this week to purchase mats to outfit all of the dune crossing areas that are not already equipped with town-constructed stairs – another nod to the damage done by the Veteran’s Day storms and DNREC not having repaired enough of that damage by the start of summer to satisfy the town.

“The steep angles and deep sand make it hard to negotiate,” Gordon said of the existing dune crossing areas – particularly those at the north end of the town’s beach. “Fourth and Fifth streets, especially, have deep sand and steep angles. People could have a heart attack getting up that.”

“Since dune repair will most likely be recurrent in future years,” he added, “[the Mobi-Mats] are the near-term and future solution to getting to and from the beach.”

The mats’ lifespan is as yet unknown, due to their being a fairly new product, Graviet said. But he pointed out that they have already been in use for six or more years in other locations.