Seaside Park to Tackle Exposed Pipe Causing Flooding, Repave Street

Stockton Ave., Seaside Park, N.J. (Credit: Google Earth)

Seaside Park officials have tasked the borough’s engineering firm with designing a project that will remove an exposed water main that is no longer in use, but is causing flooding to occur on one of the town’s northernmost streets. The street will also be repaved and improved as part of an annual repaving program funded by the state.

The street in question is Stockton Avenue near the bayside.

“There is an underground pipe that was capped off when the estuary was reconstructed,” said Councilman Marty Wilk. “The water, however, is still in that 36-inch main. It’s percolating up through the road, under pressure, when the bay comes up. If you look at it right now, there is ice on both sides of the street.”

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The borough hired T&M Associates to design the improvement project and oversee it once it begins, which will likely come after asphalt plants reopen from their winter hiatus.

“The major part of the project is to eliminate that 36-inch main which is still running out to the bay, but is no longer being used,” said Wilk.

In the future, rainwater will be directed into the modern storm drains that have been installed. These pipes also ultimately empty into Barnegat Bay, however they are newer and cannot penetrate the pavement itself. In addition to the removal of the dormant main, the street will be reconstructed with new curbing, aprons and sidewalks.

The borough has received a $303,000 grant for the work from the state Department of Transportation. Locally, Seaside Park will pay for the remainder of the project’s cost – $67,590 for the engineering services and about $178,000 in construction costs – through its annual capital improvement budget.