Posted on January 3, 2017
By Claire Lowe, pressof AtlanticCity.com
City officials hope a $15 million beach replenishment project that began last week will also address a dangerous tidal pool at the Cove beach.
“It was made clear by Army Corps of Engineers that was an item that needed to be addressed and resolved as part of this project,” City Manager Bruce MacLeod said.
In August, a 5-year-old boy nearly drowned in the tidal pool located 30 feet from the surf just west of Second Avenue. The following month, the city partially filled in the pool, which was created by erosion from storms during the past year, including Winter Storm Jonas.
MacLeod said the contractor, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, of Illinois, is expected to pump 185,000 cubic yards of sand at the Cove.
Another 119,000 cubic yards will be pumped at Lehigh Avenue and St. Pete’s beaches. Additionally, 644,000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped at the Coast Guard Training Center and 39,000 cubic yards at the Wilmington Avenue beach, commonly referred to as Poverty Beach.
The projects are part of a 50-year agreement with the Army Corps for beach replenishment.
They are running consecutively. The portion near Cove beach began Monday. The portion at the Coast Guard base is to start mid-January.
The target completion date is March 1, MacLeod said. Cape May’s share of the cost will be about $90,000. The remainder is split by state and federal governments.
MacLeod said that even if the pool is filled, it could reappear before summer.
“Anything can happen between then and next summer, but the intent of the project was to address that low-lying area,” MacLeod said.
Cape May joins Stone Harbor and Avalon in receiving major beach-replenishment projects this winter through the Army Corps.
The two boroughs will receive 605,000 cubic yards of sand as part of a $9.8 million contract awarded earlier this month to Great Lakes, Army Corps spokesman Steve Rochette said.
Avalon will split the cost of the project with the federal and state government. Stone Harbor is splitting the cost with the state due to a conflict with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Rochette said the base contract calls for the placement of 145,000 cubic yards on Avalon, 210,000 cubic yards on Stone Harbor and another 250,000 cubic yards on Avalon.
Stone Harbor Council at its Dec. 6 meeting approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a state aid agreement for beach protection with the Department of Environmental Protection. The borough’s share will be $787,977. The state will provide $1.6 million. The borough also approved $666,000 for an additional 180,000 cubic yards of sand.
Avalon approved a state aid agreement this month for a beach fill to repair beaches from Eighth Street south to 26th Street. The borough’s share of the project will cost $763,876, with the state paying $1.2 million and the federal government paying $3.7 million.
According to Avalon, because the unit price for the sand is about half the cost of previous projects, the borough will likely authorize the placement of more sand.
The project is anticipated to start “this winter,” Rochette said, but no timeline was available.
Source: Cape May CountyBruce MacLeod
