MARSHFIELD, Mass. — Marshfield is adding a new section to the Brant Rock seawall, hardening its coastline for storms to come.
The move comes after the onslaught of nor'easters last March, which wreaked havoc on homes and businesses in the area.
"Essentially, we were shut down for six days straight," Tracy Vaughan, owner of The Jetty, said.
The original plan was to use part of an old seawall when building the new one, but because there was so much damage done in March, the plan was scrapped.
"We went to town meeting in April, and the town voted to give us an extra million dollars for the north section of this wall," Deputy Superintendent Shawn Patterson said.
Northern Construction Service is a few weeks into the project, which will run about 600 feet along Brant Rock's coastline.
The new wall has what's called "re-curve" technology, which has a sharp curve near the top.
"It's three feet higher than the wall that was here before," Patterson said. "So that is going to help a lot as far as the waves breaking over."
Vaughan was surprised to hear about the seawall's improvements, but was happy about the change.
"'Have to be honest, I had not expected it to happen so quickly," Vaughan said. "When we heard they were going to do it, a huge relief."
Vaughan is hoping the wall doesn't get tested, but hopes it's strong enough to hold up regardless.
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"I would say for the typical storms we get, it should absolutely be high enough," Vaughan said. "But, that remains to be seen."
The town is working with the state to secure more funding to help rebuild older seawalls and do more preventative maintenance.