Long-awaited dredging of the channel on the east side of Mathews County’s Milford Haven, known as Hole in the Wall, was slated to begin this week, along with a restoration project along Haven Beach that will be using the sand that will be dredged.

Offshore breakwaters will be installed to capture the sand and avoid future runoff.

Haven Beach will be closed throughout the project so the parking lot can be used as a staging ground for equipment, said Curt Smith, deputy director of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission, who provided commissioners with an update during the March 27 meeting.

Smith said the dredging will take about three or four weeks, after which work will shift to construction of the breakwaters. The county has a permit to build three new breakwaters and extend an existing small breakwater at the site, he said, but there is currently only enough funding available to build one new breakwater and extend the small one, adding additional protection to the...