A dredging pipeline that lands on the beach at North Street will carry 700,000 cubic yards of sand onto beaches in Ocean City, NJ, starting in early November 2015.
On the third anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, state and federal officials announced the completion of a $57.6 million project to construct beaches and dunes in southern Ocean City, Strathmere and Sea Isle City.
That paves the way for the start of a new project at the northern end of Ocean City starting next week.
The contractor's dredge, the Illinois, will move to Ocean City to start a $9 million beach renourishment project.
The project will pump 700,000 cubic yards of new sand to beaches from the "terminal groin" (the first jetty at Seaspray Road) to 12th Street, according to a news release from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The project is expected to take between 45 and 60 days.
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and Lt. Col. Michael Bliss, commander, Philadelphia District of USACE, were joined on Thursday morning by Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio and other federal, state and local officials at 58th Street in Sea Isle City as machinery from contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. began demobilizing.
The project, which began in April, provided southern Ocean City, the Strathmere section of Upper Township and Sea Isle City more than 4.5 million cubic yards across nine miles of beach.
"The city greatly appreciates the efforts by the DEP and the Army Corps to ensure we are protected from storms like the one that hit us three years ago," said Mayor Desiderio. "During Sandy, we witnessed how a properly engineered beach can protect public and private properties. These dunes did their job again during the severe nor'easter earlier this month."
From 34th Street to the northern boundary of Corson's Inlet State Part, a dune approximately 13 feet above sea level, with a 25-foot-width at the top was constructed, and the beach now extends more than 100 feet from the seaward base of the dune.
On Ludlum Island, which encompasses the Strathmere section of Upper Township and Sea Isle City, the dune has been constructed 15 feet above sea level and 25 feet wide at the top. The beach is now more than 50 feet wide.
The completed project is one of several along the New Jersey coastline being funded by $1.2 billion appropriated by Congress to rebuild and strengthen the state's beaches following Superstorm Sandy in October 2012.
Check back with OCNJ Daily for regular updates on the progress of beach replenishment.
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