NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Along the shoreline Wednesday, contractors were hard at work.
A large dredge and several bulldozers pumped and poured sand onto the coastline as part of a project to restore the beloved beach's eroded shoreline.
Town of Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer says, "We weren't able to show our residents what a full overlook beach looks like this past summer and we're excited to show them in the summer of 2025."
This week- 70 thousand cubic yards of sand from the inlet will be pumped in to build out the beach. Town officials say the protection is a long time coming.
"This is a coastal erosion area so unfortunately we tend to lose more sand than we gain," said Brian Zitani, waterways manager and supervisor for the Town of Babylon. "Seasonal changes and Mother Nature have been throwing the town for a loop the last 6-7 years and we've been losing sand at an incredibly high rate and we're not naturally gaining it back."
The state will cover the 1.8 million dollar price tag for the project.
State officials say it is part of a larger restoration plan for the area.
"This project is part of what they call fire island inlet and shores westerly," said Robert Calarco, the Assistant Secretary for Long Island Intergovernmental Affairs. "It's almost all Jones Beach Jones Island so state parks of Gilgo Beach and Sore Thumb. It's a 38-million-dollar project that will really make sure we do two things: provide the recreational asset for the residents of Long Island and for visitors and protect the mainland."
The town supervisor says one goal of the project is to protect Ocean Parkway from a potential breach like the one that took place during Sandy.
Schaffer says, "It's very important to our tourism and our community but public safety is the most important and that would be Ocean Parkway."
The Overlook Beach restoration should be complete by the end of Thursday.