Finally, the sand is coming back. This month, a contractor will start to dredge and spread 2.9 million cubic yards of sand on the Hurricane Sandy-depleted beaches of the Rockaways, in Queens, significantly expanding and raising six miles of beach. That’s a lot of sand castles or, put another way, enough sand to fill more than two Empire State Buildings.

For area residents, the infusion of sand cannot come soon enough. The project will elevate the stretch between Beach 19th and Beach 149th Streets by as much as 10 to 14 feet above sea level, restoring the strand to the generous dimensions of the 1970s, when the Army Corps of Engineers first undertook sand replenishment there. And the New York City parks department will pay for an additional two feet of sand that will go along the boardwalk for an added buffer.

Local officials say that even before the hurricane, which struck in October 2012, the community had watched its beach slowly disappear and residents had begged for more sand for years.

“It’s unfortunate that it took a natural disaster for people to realize what residents of the Rockaways have known for 20 years — that the beach was eroding and no longer offered proper protection,” State Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, a Rockaway native, said. “Sandy secured the money to do it the right way.”