The project to restore the sand along Dune Road, just west of the Shinnecock Inlet, was supposed to begin Monday but was postponed due to gusting wind and rain.

As News 12 has reported, a series of storms last fall washed away the dunes causing the ocean to crest over the roadway.

Stephanie Oakland says it was a frightening sight watching the ocean flatten the dunes. Oakland has a restaurant on Dune Road. She and the commercial fishing fleet next door in Shinnecock Bay have been anxiously waiting for help.

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $10.7 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company for the completion of the project.

Over the next two months, 600,000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped from the ocean floor back onto the beach and then bulldozed to create a substantial dune.

"To put this 600,000 cubic yards of sand into perspective, it would fill a football field 280 feet high," says Thomas Asbery, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The project, which will now begin later this week, is expected to be finished before the end of March depending on weather.

Dune Road packed with waterfront restaurants, entertainment