A complicated house move that has temporarily transformed part of Wasque from a secluded point at the edge of the sea to a giant excavation and earth-moving operation is well underway.

The Edgartown conservation commission approved a large, complicated project Wednesday to move a Wasque Point home threatened by erosion. The approval comes after months of discussion during which town boards, experts and residents grappled with the environmental and logistical details of the project while faced with the urgency of a rapidly-eroding coastal bluff.

Construction equipment will be arriving on Chappaquiddick Friday for the first phase of a complex house move on Wasque Point, where erosion threatens Richard and Jennifer Schifter’s house.

The Edgartown selectmen Monday approved use of part of Chappaquiddick Point parking lot from March 27 through April 3 to unload equipment for moving the house, garage and guest house, as well as a neighboring house that the family purchased to make room for their house move.

After months of discussion, work is beginning on a multi-phase project to move a Chappaquiddick house threatened by erosion, with the Edgartown planning board this week approving the relocation of a guest house on the Wasque property.

Plans to move a Chappaquiddick house threatened by rapid coastal erosion took a step forward Tuesday when the Edgartown planning board approved a special permit for the first stage of the house move.

The board got its first look Tuesday at plans to relocate an 8,800-square-foot house at Wasque Point owned by Richard and Jennifer Schifter, as well as a guest house and garage. The Schifter property has been threatened by rapid erosion over the last year; the coastal bluff is now 50 feet away from a stone pool enclosure.

The Edgartown Planning Board Tuesday approved part of an application to move a Chappaquiddick house threatened by erosion.

The board got its first look Tuesday at plans to relocate a 5,500-square-foot house at Wasque Point owned by Richard and Jennifer Schifter, as well as a 1,150-square-foot guest house and a 1,140-square-foot garage. The Schifter property has been threatened by rapid erosion over the last year; the coastal bluff is now 50 feet away from a stone pool enclosure.

Wasque Point is a remote place; this is the far southeastern corner of Chappaquiddick, an island off an island. The name comes from the Algonquin word Wannasque, which means “the ending.” Where the land ends, there is nothing but Atlantic Ocean, dotted with flocks of scoters bobbing where the waves break, and then it’s ocean as far as the eye can see.

While tropical storm Irene did little damage inland save a good salt blasting and natural pruning of trees, the storm drastically reshaped parts of the Island’s coastline when it blew through last Sunday. At Wasque Reservation on Chappaquiddick, 22 feet of south-facing beach fell into the ocean in a 24-hour period. And around the Island conservation officials reported significant losses of beachfront and dramatically altered shorelines. Beaches that were wide ribbons of sand just last week are now nothing but rocks and boulders, and vice versa.

For the first time in living memory, Wasque Point on Chappaquiddick, a famed spot where riptides attract thousands of saltwater fishermen each year, will be inaccessible for much of the summer. The reason is the ferocious erosion now eating away huge chunks of the southeastern corner of Chappaquiddick at a rapid rate. The once-wide sandy beach at Wasque Point has been replaced by 20 to 28-foot sheer cliffs, with truckloads of uprooted pine and oak trees stuck in the crashing surf at their base.