BEVERLY SHORES, Ind. (AP) — The National Park Service and a northwestern Indiana town will install sand traps along the Lake Michigan shoreline to combat beach erosion at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
The federal agency was scheduled to begin working Friday with the town of Beverly Shores to fill 300 linear feet of sand traps. Those traps will be installed along the beach and above the high-water mark at the Indiana Dunes National Park's Lake View parking area and Lake Front Drive.
Officials are asking the public to steer clear of the area as heavy equipment is used to install and fill the sand traps and fight erosion during a time of high water levels on the lake, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
"Without intervention, the parking lot, road and the public utilities buried near them could be damaged or destroyed by future storm waves," the Indiana Dunes National Park said in a news release.
The park has 15 miles (24 kilometers) of shoreline. Lake Michigan's water level remains "well above the long-term average," the park said.
Officials declared an emergency and issued travel restrictions in the Beverly Shores area last week as the town and parks service worked to address the worsening erosion situation along the lake.
In February, the 15,000-acre (6,070-hectare) park along the southern shore of Lake Michigan became Indiana's first national park.
