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Cape Cod National Seashore warns of eroded bluff dangers

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 9, 2010 03:38 PM

National Park Service

Park Service rangers conducted a program under the bluffs on the Cape Cod National Seashore in the summer of 2008.

By Shana Wickett, Globe Correspondent

Stay away from the bluffs. That's the warning from the officials at the Cape Cod National Seashore, where erosion from recent storms has undermined the bluffs for miles along the beaches.

“Because the storms were so frequent and happened at an astronomical high tide cycle, the waves crashed right on the bottom of the bluffs,” said Karst Hoogeboom, chief of facilities and maintenance for Cape Cod National Seashore. He said the bluffs, which can range from 6 to 60 feet tall, could collapse without warning, as sand begins to dry out.

The problem stretches from Coast Guard Beach in Eastham to Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, Hoogeboom said. Some beach areas are closed off with warning signs and police tape.

“We still want people to use the beaches, but we just want them to go to safe areas to do that,” Hoogeboom said. “If they stay on the beach itself and stay away from the cliffs, there shouldn’t be any problems enjoying the nice weather this week.”

Slopes should stabilize when sand pulled away from the beach is pushed back by summer waves, he said.

Sand was lost in areas where visitors would not typically need stairs to reach the beach, and strong waves pulled sand from the beach offshore, creating sandbars, Hoogeboom said.

Stairs descending to Marconi Beach in Wellfleet and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham were either completely or partially washed away. After strong winds pushed water into the salt marsh closest to Coast Guard Beach, waves dislodged the end of the bicycle path bridge spanning the marsh off its pilings and damaged its handrails and decking, Hoogeboom said.

The damage is still being assessed but is unofficially estimated at $150,000 to $500,000.