Posted on October 10, 2017
By Jean Mikle, app
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have caused some delays in the long-awaited beach replenishment project in northern Ocean County.
Work to shore up battered beaches from the Manasquan to Barnegat inlets is now underway in Mantoloking, according to Mayor George Nebel. It was originally set to begin in the summer.
“It’s taken five years to get here,” Nebel said Friday, adding that he’s “very happy” that the project is starting.
Sand pumping in Mantoloking is expected to be completed by late December or early January.
Lavallette Mayor Walter LaCicero said a meeting is scheduled later this month in Mantoloking to discuss the timing of the replenishment in each town.
The mayor said he is concerned that the project could impact the summer tourist season in his oceanfront town.
“We are highly concerned about that,” LaCicero said, adding that he is hopeful that replenishment work can be finished before the summer season.
The updated schedule for the beach replenishment project is listed below:
– Seaside Heights – estimated construction between December 2017 to January-February 2018.
– Seaside Park – estimated construction between February and April 2018.
– Toms River Township (Ortley Beach) – temporary beachfill effort was completed between May 28 and June 15.
– The hopper dredges will return to complete the full dune and berm in Ortley Beach between January and March 2018.
– Brick Township – estimated construction between February and April 2018
– Toms River Township (Normandy) – estimated construction between March and May 2018.
– Lavallette – estimated construction between April and June 2018.
Superstorm Sandy hit northern Ocean County’s barrier island hard on the night of Oct. 29, 2012. The ocean met the bay and much of the strip of land from Manasquan to Barnegat inlets was underwater.
Almost every one of Mantoloking’s 321 homes was either destroyed or damaged. More than 200 homes in Toms River’s Ortley Beach section were washed away. Seaside Heights lost its boardwalk, and a section of Casino Pier was sheared off, dumping the Jet Star rollercoaster into the Atlantic Ocean.
When completed, the project will cover nearly 14 miles of coastline from the Manasquan to Barnegat inlets, and use more than 11 million cubic yards of sand that will be dredged from “borrow pits” located offshore.
Cranford-based Weeks Marine made the winning $128.82 million bid on the project, $23 million below the next-closest offer. The federal government will pay the initial cost of the project, using funds set aside under the 2013 Disaster Appropriations Act after Sandy.
As is typical with beach-fill projects, the state will eventually be required to reimburse the federal government for a portion of the final costs. That amount is estimated at $58 million by the Army Corps.
Along most of the project, 22-foot-high dunes will be built, but in Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights dunes will be 18 feet. Dunes also will be made much wider than existing dunes.
On average, the contractor will advance about 100 to 300 feet per day, depending on weather, dredging production and other factors. No more than 1,000 feet of beach should be closed at any one time.
After the initial beach replenishment is completed, additional sand will be deposited on beaches every four years through 2065.
Total cost of the project over 50 years is estimated at about $514 million.
Source: app
