The Army Corps of Engineers on Monday officially awarded a $57.6 million contract to the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill., to rebuild eroded beaches at the south end of Ocean City and in Strathmere and Sea Isle City.
“In about two weeks, after receiving and reviewing performance bonds, we will issue a notice to proceed, after which Great Lakes is free to begin work any time,” Army Corps spokesman Richard Pearsall said.
He said the Army Corps does not yet know exactly when work will start. The contractor has about 480 days to complete the project from the date of the notice to proceed. Pearsall said the Corps also does not know yet in which town work will start. Details are expected to emerge in the coming weeks.
Great Lakes, the same company that completed the beach replenishment project at Ocean City’s north end in spring 2013, was the low bidder on the project (among bids opened last month). Great Lakes was founded more than a century ago on the shores of Lake Michigan. Today, the company works on dredging projects throughout the world.
Read the Army Corps of Engineers fact sheet on the project.
After years of lobbying to rebuild eroding beaches, south end property owners in Ocean City will see 50 years of continuing replenishment projects.
The project will pump new sand onto beaches between 34th and 59th streets in Ocean City.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the initial project cost to restore beaches at the south end of Ocean City and in Strathmere and Sea Isle City.
The south end of Ocean City will then be part of a continuing three-year renourishment cycle that will continue for 50 years (contingent on the availability of federal funds). The federal government estimates it will spend $309.4 million on the project area over the life of the agreement.
The work will end a long waiting game for property owners in southern Ocean City, where the ocean met the bay during Superstorm Sandy in October 2012 and flattened protective dunes. But even before Sandy hit in 2012, beaches on that part of the island disappeared during some high tides.
The cost share for the renourishment projects in the future will be 50 percent federal government and 50 percent state government (with Ocean City responsible for 25 percent of the state’s cost).
Read more: 50 Years of Sand on the Way to Ocean City’s South End
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