Birch Bay berm ceremony on September 6

The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony – or rather, a sand pouring ceremony, since no ground will be broken – to celebrate the beginning of construction on the Birch Bay berm project.

The event starts at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 6, on the shoreline in front of Birch Bay Community Park, at 7930 Birch Bay Drive. Whatcom County executive Jack Louws will be there, as well as county public works special projects manager Roland Middleton, and likely some other county staff and local politicians.

Construction probably won’t begin until October, as the county hasn’t yet hired a contractor.

Whatcom County added the project to its comprehensive plan for Birch Bay in 1977 and county officials began permitting it in 2016.

The project aims to restore the beach to its natural condition by adding about 150,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel to 1.6 miles of beach along Birch Bay Drive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed sand and gravel from the beach in the 1950s to build the Blaine Air Force Station, creating a “sediment deficit.”

The beach occasionally floods and damages the road and nearby structures. The added sand and gravel will raise the beach and provide better storm protection to the road than the concrete structures in place, which have proved to be ineffective.