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Prospect Beach Shore and Bank Protection Project

Prospect Beach lies near the southwestern end of the West Haven shorefront, near New Haven Harbor. Two separate projects have been completed.

The first project, which was finished in May 1957 and cost $345,400, was completed in two steps:

  • Approximately 6,000 feet of beach was widened to 100 feet by the direct placement of sand (The south end of the beach was widened to 150 feet). The area of improvement begins at Ivy Street (about 1,500 feet south of Bradley Point) and ends about 350 feet south of South Street.
  • Eight groins, varying in length from 250 to 330 feet, were constructed.

The second project was completed in 1994 and cost $1.7 million. Erosion of more than two feet per year and regular overtopping of the beach by wind-driven waves exposed the backshore, causing flooding and damage to property and public services, including Ocean Avenue. The Corps of Engineers developed a plan of protection which involved the placement of an estimated 130,000 cubic yards of sand fill along 4,300 feet of shorefront to a bean width of 50 feet at an elevation of 12 feet above mean low water. This provides a dry beach area above mean high water 140 feet wide.