As seawater and sand gushed from a feeder pipe onto the beach at 42nd Street in Ocean City, NJ on Friday morning, federal, state and local officials thanked and congratulated each other at a news conference to mark the start of a long-awaited $57.6 million project to rebuild eroded beaches in southern Ocean City, Strathmere and Sea Isle City.
The work began on Thursday (April 16) and is expected to be complete in Ocean City by early to mid-July.
State Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner (DEP) Bob Martin said that for the first time New Jersey has a full comprehensive plan to protect the full length of its coastline.
“Superstorm Sandy showed us we had a lot of gaps,” Martin said.
The devastating 2012 storm led to what U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo called a “one-time deal”: a chance for the federal government to pay 100 percent of the cost of more than $1 billion in beach replenishment projects throughout New Jersey.
The cost of “renourishment” projects on a three-year cycle will be shared by federal, state and local governments.
“What a great day for Ocean City,” Mayor Jay Gillian said. “It’s not about people laying on the beach, it’s about all the protection we’ll now have.”
“It’s a chance to finish something we started back in the early 1990s on the north end of Ocean City,” said Lt. Colonel Michael Bliss, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District.
The contractor is Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. of Oak Brook, Illinois. More than 4.2 million cubic yards of sand will be pumped over the 9.1-mile length of the project. Crossovers will be repaired, sand fencing installed and dune grasses planted.
In Monmouth County, a contractor also started work this week on a $38.2 million project to construct beaches, make stormwater outfall improvements and implement modifications to existing groins in the area of Loch Arbour, Allenhurst and Deal.
Other beach construction projects scheduled to commence in 2015 include beach and dune construction at Long Beach Island, including Long Beach Township, northern Surf City, Ship Bottom and Beach Haven; Absecon Island at southern Ventnor, Margate and Longport; and the Northern Ocean County peninsula between the Manasquan and Barnegat Inlets, including Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head, Mantoloking, Brick, Toms River, Lavallette, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Berkeley.
Last year, the Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with DEP, completed eight post-Sandy beach repair projects, returning roughly 45 miles of previously engineered and constructed beaches along the New Jersey coast to their original protective construction design at a cost of $345 million.
_________
DATE: Friday, April 17
PROGRESS: With a day of pumping complete, the dredge has created a small area of elevation at the mouth of the feeder pipeline just south of 42nd Street. Bulldozers are starting to distribute the sand across the tide line. Access to the beach is blocked at 42nd and 43rd streets, though pedestrians can walk across the dune crossovers to see the work.
WHAT’S NEXT: Work will proceed northward toward 36th Street over the next couple weeks.
READ MORE: Ocean City NJ Beach Replenishment 2015 Daily Update
_____
Sign up for free e-mail newsletter to get daily updates on the project.
_____
