The south end beach replenishment project has about a day or two worth of work remaining before it’s complete, and a north end project could begin by mid-October, Ocean City Business Administrator Jim Mallon reported to City Council on Thursday.
Ocean City could have more sand on its beaches by the new year than it has at any time since the island was developed.
Most old-timers can remember the ocean regularly washing under the boardwalk at several different points. But the north end of Ocean City has been on a regular cycle for Army Corps of Engineers beach renourishment since the 1990s, and the south end joined that program for the first time this year.
Mallon said the contractor pumping new sand onto the south end has about 17,000 cubic yards to go before completing a project of 1.6 million cubic yards between 37th and 59th streets.
The work has been at a standstill all week as the dredge transporting sand retreated to port in the rough seas of a strong northeast swell. When the Liberty Island returns early next week, the city is hoping the work can be completed in just one more day.
The contractor will then remove pipeline and equipment from the beach and work on completing dune crossovers. Mallon said restoring the 59th Street entrance to Corson’s Inlet State Park will be a priority. Dune grass will be planted seasonally starting in November.
A separate dredge, the Illinois, is expected to complete work in Sea Isle City (part of the same $57 million project as southern Ocean City) in early October. The dredge will be transported straight to Ocean City after the job in Sea Isle is done.
A pre-construction meeting is scheduled for early October, and sand-pumping could begin by mid-October. The project area would range from Ocean City’s first jetty at Seaspray Road to 15th Street.
The last north end replenishment in 2013 was scheduled to be completed in about three months (and took just slightly longer due to weather and mechanical delays). That schedule would complete the work by mid-January.
City Council approved a bond ordinance earlier this year to fund for the city’s portion of the north end work.
The specifications call for the work to be complete by March 1, 2016. The work at the north end is part of a regular three-year cycle of maintenance projects for which the municipal government assumes 8.75 percent of the cost (with the federal government and state paying the rest).
The south end also will be on a three-year cycle for renourishment projects (with the city paying a slightly higher portion of the costs).
Council authorized spending up to $1,350,000 for the yet-to-be-determined costs of the north end work.
