No person shall dig, mine, remove or carry away, or cause to be dug, mined, removed or carried away, any sand from any public or private beach along the Delaware Bay or along the Atlantic Ocean within 500 feet from mean high watermark, whereby, because of such digging, mining, removal or carrying away of such sand, the beaches or lands abutting thereon or adjacent thereto would become flooded or barrier dunes would be destroyed, or so nearly destroyed, as to become ineffectual in holding back any of the waters from the Delaware River or Delaware Bay or the Atlantic Ocean, or the probability of the flooding of such lands would be materially increased, without first obtaining written consent from the Department of Transportation to dig, mine, remove or carry away the quantity of sand desired from the place designated from which such sand is to be taken, provided that this section shall not prohibit the digging or removal of gravel therefrom.
For the purpose of §§ 1706-1708 of this title, gravel shall be construed to mean any gravel or coarse sand suitable for concrete masonry such as can be had or found between high and low watermark.