The sand barrier dune in Willapa Bay near the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, north of Tokeland, has been battered by storms in recent years. In an effort to help protect tribal property, the Seattle District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract to repair the sand barrier dune.

The contract was awarded to Manson Construction Company of Seattle, according to a Corps statement released Wednesday.

Construction is scheduled to kick off this summer on a $19.9 million federally funded dune repair project that provides coastal storm damage protection. In addition, the project will maintain habitat for the Pacific Coast western snowy plover and streaked horned lark, two bird species federally listed under the Endangered Species Act as threatened.

“Three major storms between December 2015 and October 2016 completely destroyed the northern portion of the sand spit and significantly eroded the remaining portion of the dune, threatening the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, including culturally and ecologically significant wetland areas,” said Daryl Downing, Corps’ project manager for the repair effort.

Repair work includes dredging approximately 750,000 cubic yards of sand from a borrow site providing materials to rebuild the 12,500-foot-long protective berm.