Posted on October 21, 2024
CAPE MAY COUNTY, NJ — A $1.3 million beach nourishment project is set for part of Cape May County this fall and winter, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday.
The Lower Cape Meadows-Cape May Point project will redistribute excess sand and create more habitats for beach nesting birds, officials said.
This project area spans about 350 acres containing Cape May Point State Park and the Nature Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
It will use ‘backpassing’, which means sand will be excavated from areas along the beach instead of dredging the sand from offshore borrow areas or inlets. The base contract work will involve excavating approximately 88,000 cubic yards of sand from beach areas that have accumulated excess sand. This sand will then be placed at the Cove Beach area in the City of Cape May.
Contract options were also awarded for an additional 16,200 cubic yards of sand excavation, which will be used to create three sand islands for bird habitat in the beach area that fronts the South Cape May Meadows area. Additional contract options for sand excavation may be awarded depending on the results of beach surveys, the Army Corps of Engineers said.
This will return the area to the design elevation and provide benefits for beach nesting birds like the piping plover and least terns.
Eleven pairs of piping plovers nested in the project area after it was originally built; however piping plovers have not recently nested in the area, in part due to the lack of suitable nesting habitat.
The initial construction for the Lower Cape May Meadows-Cape May Point ecosystem restoration project was completed in 2007 and has been nourished/repaired in subsequent years. The project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Borough of Cape May Point, City of Cape May, Lower Township, the Nature Conservancy, and Cape May Point State Park.
Work is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events and to protect the valuable fish and wildlife habitat that exists on the beach and in the wetlands behind the dune.
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