“This project reflects a great team effort, from the time we began hauling sand by truck in the summer to now maintaining efficient round-the-clock operations,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin said in a news release. “We remain committed to getting the work done while continuing to keep the public informed about the project.”

The current DNREC-led phase of the project includes 24/7 dredging and sand placement to rebuild the north side beach and dune. This effort will be followed by a second phase in 2025, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to ensure long-term, coastal resilience.

Together, these measures are designed to protect state Rt. 1, which has been repeatedly threatened by storm-related flooding and erosion, including damage from Hurricane Ernesto earlier this year.

The dredging project also includes the restoration of the area’s natural sand bypass system, which moved sediment to nourish the north side beach, addressing years of sand deficits that have left the inlet particularly vulnerable to storm damage.

As the dredging and nourishment project continues, the north side beach at Delaware Seashore State Park remainsclosed to ensure public safety.

Surfers and beachgoers are encouraged to check for DNREC updates online.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — New Year’s Eve kicked off with a bang over the Delaware River.

“The way they just explode!” said Sarah Cordoba, 9, of Phoenixville, Pa. “It’s like a colorful pop in the air.”

“They were very glittery and colorful,” said 6-year-old Arther Gupta.

He was mesmerized by the fireworks at Penn’s Landing this evening, and so was his family, who had a waterside viewing spot.

“I had never seen fireworks off of a boat before so that was pretty spectacular,” said his mother Esther Gupta.

This evening’s downpour held off until just after the 6 p.m. fireworks show.

“First time I’ve been down here in a while. He wanted to come and we came out here,” said Lloyd Harris of Philadelphia, who brought his son to the Penn’s Landing fireworks show for the first time.

Some families spent part of their New Year’s Eve together on the ice.

“We’re going to be ice skating, Ferris wheel and then we’re gonna go back to the hotel and have dinner,” said Helena Cordoba of Phoenixville, Pa.

And as for New Year’s resolutions?

“Stick to exercising on a consistent basis,” said Sarina McGovern of South Philadelphia.

“I think to be more productive,” said 11-year-old Leah Cardoba of Phoenixville, Pa.

“I do need to try to be more patient,” said Brenda Carswell of Woodbridge, Va.

“Honestly it’s to spend more time with my family. I tend to work quite a bit. So it’ll be nice to be home,” said Wendy Wagster of Robbinsville, N.J.

Nearly half of U.S. states are set to raise their minimum wage at the outset of 2025, boosting pay for millions of workers stretching from California to Maine.

In all, 21 states will raise their wage floors on Jan. 1 in keeping with inflation-adjusted increases or as part of scheduled hikes that take effect at the beginning of each calendar year.

The pay increases will affect about 9.2 million workers, who will gain a combined $5.7 billion over the course of 2025, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, or EPI.

After the wave of wage hikes, Washington will become the state with the highest minimum wage, offering workers $16.66 per hour. Workers in California and New York will enjoy the second-highest wage floor, as both states implement a minimum hourly wage of $16.50.

Pay increases set to take hold in the new year will bring the wage floor to $15 an hour or higher in Washington, D.C., as well as 10 states, among them Delaware, Illinois and Rhode Island. Those areas play host to one of every three U.S. workers, EPI found.

Overall, the states set to raise their minimum wage on Wednesday include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

The nation’s highest wage floors will take effect in some of the nearly 50 cities and other localities that will impose minimum pay hikes.

Twenty-nine cities in California will see pay hikes, including a $17-an-hour wage floor that will take effect in Oakland. Seven localities in Washington will increase their minimum wage, among them the country’s highest wage floor: $21.10 an hour in Tukwila.

The latest round of pay increases, however, will not affect more than a dozen states concentrated in the South that lack a minimum wage or offer a minimum wage that does not exceed the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.

The last federal minimum wage hike took place in 2009, when Congress raised the pay floor to its current level. When adjusted for inflation, the federal minimum wage stands at its lowest level since February 1956, nearly 70 years ago, EPI found.