A $57.6 million federal project to rebuild eroded beaches at the south end of Ocean City will start in May.
The schedule makes it likely that work will continue into some portion of the peak summer rental season, a vital part of Ocean City’s tourist economy. A similar project on the north end of Ocean City in 2013 started in February and finished in early June.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Richard Pearsall confirmed Wednesday that the contractor will begin work in Ocean City in May after starting staging work early in April. The project will start at 34th Street and proceed from there to the southern end of the project area at 59th Street.
The project also includes Strathmere and Sea Isle City. Staging for a second dredge will take place in March in Strathmere, and work will begin in April with crews moving from Strathmere to toward Sea Isle City, according to Pearsall.
The two dredges will work simultaneously, he said, though he was not sure if they would use the same borrow area.
Beach replenishment projects involve the laying of pipeline and the closing of a couple blocks of beach at a time as work crews traverse the project area.
The schedule raises the possibility that beaches may be closed near summer vacation rental properties at certain periods. The four-month north-end project in 2013, which covered a similar distance, did include some delays for repairs to dredging equipment.
Without knowing exactly how quickly the Army Corps work will proceed, Ocean City Board of Realtors President Ken Sedberry said it would be hard to gauge the potential impact.
He said he would hope that it wouldn’t affect the heart of the season — the last two weeks of July and first two of August.
“Certainly we’d have to notify owners and tenants,” said Mike Allegretto, a south-end Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and vice president of City Council in Ocean City.
“We’d like to make it as least painful as possible,” Allegretto said.
“The administration and the City Council learned of the planned schedule for the beach replenishment project in the south end of Ocean City through media accounts,” Mayor Jay Gillian said in a news statement released after this report was posted. “We are looking forward to hearing more detailed information at an upcoming reconstruction meeting. We like the concept of using two dredges and believe that is beneficial to the communities. We have some reservations about the May start date, but will wait to hear more details at the reconstruction meeting.”
“We will start meeting now with key stakeholders so that we can communicate the project proactively, and minimize any possible inconveniences for our residents and guests during the summer season. We are grateful that the project is moving forward. It will serve to protect billions of dollars of public and private property in the years ahead. Ocean City looks forward to working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the N.J. DEP on a successful project.”
“At the end of the day, it’s certainly not our preference to inconvenience our guests in any way,” Council President Tony Wilson said of the May start. “Sooner is always better.”
But Wilson said the long-term benefits of beach replenishment to both property owners and visitors should not be forgotten.
The Army Corps awarded a $57.6 million contract last month 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 a much-anticipated project that was originally projected to begin in late November.
Great Lakes is the same company that completed the beach replenishment project at Ocean City’s north end in spring 2013.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the project costs to restore beaches in the three towns.
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 project ends 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.
Read more: 50 Years of Sand on the Way to Ocean City’s South End
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