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Repairs Underway To Prevent Nantasket Beach Seawall From Collapsing

HULL (CBS) -- The boulders keep arriving on Nantasket Beach while one machine digs a crater in the sand and another scoops seawater out of it.

There is a 200 foot stretch of seawall undergoing emergency repairs amid fears it might actually collapse on summertime beach goers.

"You got to dig into your pocket once in a while and help restore what we have or we're going to loose it," beach goer Bob Casavant said.

The seawall watch in Hull began when Superstorm Sandy washed away a bunch of sand.

But it was the pounding surf of February's blizzard - and the Nor'Easter in March - that made things unsafe.

For now though, a small chunk of Nantasket is off limits and so is the Murray Bath House right behind it, as 300-pound boulders are brought in to brace a wall where the cracks concerning engineers are just three-eighths of an inch.

"If it does fall somebody could be there and it could kill someone," Mike Galvin, engineer for the Department of Conservation and Recreation said. "We want to make sure we fix it."

The enormous rocks are the top layer of the fix, supporting the seawall base and jutting out some 40-feet toward the water - partially covered by sand.

They'll sit atop three other layers of smaller stone - something known as "revetment" - which beach regulars applaud.

The emergency project is actually ahead of schedule.

Sunbathers and swimmers are set to get the whole beach back by the end of next week.

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