Posted on May 2, 2016
Beachfill contractor Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co.’s three dredges assigned to the Long Beach Island project are all currently on site and at work. On Tuesday, the dredge Liberty Island was discharging north of Osborne Avenue in Beach Haven, while the Dodge Island and Padre Island were pumping south of 13th Street in the borough.
Liberty Island will head north, and Dodge Island and Padre Island are to move south. The dredges will meet somewhere in between the starting points. Great Lakes expects Beach Haven to be completed by middle or late May, after which operations will begin in Holgate.
In December 2014, the Army Corps awarded a $128 million contract to Great Lakes to finish the LBI Storm Damage Reduction Project, a joint effort of the Corps and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Replenishment efforts began in early May 2015 in Ship Bottom, then moved to Long Beach Township. Earlier this year, Great Lakes moved its dredges to a project in Georgia, then returned this month to resume work on the Island.
The schedule for the last segments of the project – the Loveladies and North Beach sections of Long Beach Township and a few streets in Surf City – is still undetermined, as eminent domain proceedings for Loveladies and North Beach have not been finalized.
According to Army Corps press officer Steve Rochette, the USACE has also requested a proposal from Great Lakes to complete emergency repairs in three areas finished earlier: in Ship Bottom, from approximately Fourth Street to 34th Street in Brant Beach; from Selfridge Avenue in Brant Beach to Nebraska Avenue in Beach Haven Park, in Long Beach Township; and from Nebraska Avenue in the township to the Beach Haven border.
“Essentially it will be additional sand for the areas that were completed as part of this contract and subsequently damaged by storms,” said Rochette. “This work would most likely be completed after the initial construction is complete in the other areas.”
The USACE is also requesting repair work for Harvey Cedars, the majority of Surf City and a section of Brant Beach, all of which were part of the initial construction for the project, and were also restored after Superstorm Sandy. This work will take place only if federal funds are allocated; funding is not already in place as it is for the previously mentioned sections.
“We completed what’s called a Project Information Report (basically damage assessment) that included both the October and January storms for those areas on LBI,” Rochette explained. “It still has to go through a process with our higher headquarters to determine if approved/eligible for the emergency repairs, and then it’s contingent on funding in the program, which covers projects nationwide.”
Visit the project website, at nap.usace.army.mil, for updates on the project.
