Storm surf from a Dec. 9 nor'easter eats at a protective berm at 57th Street in Ocean City, NJ. A federal Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment project will start there in May.
Ocean City officials expect to learn more detail on the proposed timeline for a beach replenishment project at the south end of the island during a pre-construction meeting scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22.
The meeting will include representatives of the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill., which was awarded a $57.6 million contract to pump sand from an offshore borrow area to rebuild eroded beaches between 34th and 59th streets in Ocean City and across the length of Strathmere and Sea Isle City.
The meeting also will include representatives of the federal Army Corps of Engineers, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the three municipalities involved in the project.
The Army Corps said in December that work in Ocean City will begin in early May (after staging in early April) and that work in Strathmere and Sea Isle City will begin in early April (after staging in March).
But with work all but certain to interrupt the peak summer beach season and the vacation rental economy, real estate professionals, property owners and city officials are keenly interested in obtaining as much information as possible about the project timeline and the exact progression of beaches to be rebuilt.
Beach replenishment projects involve the laying of pipeline and the closing of a couple blocks of beach at a time for short periods as work crews traverse the project area. The schedule raises the possibility that beaches may be closed near vacation rental properties during certain periods of the summer.
The pre-construction meeting is not public and was not announced, but an e-newsletter from the City of Sea Isle City notes the date of the event:
"The pre-construction meeting for the project is scheduled for January 22, at which time we expect to obtain additional details regarding the contractor’s overall schedule and when we can anticipate beach replenishment operations to take place in Sea Isle," the newsletter reads.
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