Ortley Beach & North Beaches

Cliffs Emerge Taller in Ortley Beach After Nor’Easters: Here’s What it Looks Like (And The Repair Plan)

by
Daniel Nee
March 13, 2024

Cliffs measuring over 10-feet in height at their highest locations in Ortley Beach have generated the latest round of concerns by local residents who worry that the beaches have suffered unprecedented erosion during a spate of recent storms – four in a week’s time – that have battered the neighborhood’s beaches.

For locals, the trouble spots barely need to be named: they center around Seventh Avenue and fan out to the north and south from that point. Locations to the north, roughly the location of the former Joey Harrison’s Surf Club site, as well as locations several blocks to the south, have also been greatly affected.

Dune erosion ‘cliffs’ following multiple nor’easters in a week, Ortley Beach, N.J., March 12, 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)

It is expected that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin developing a fresh round of bid solicitations for a large-scale beach renourishment project this month that will include a re-engineering of the dunes in Ortley Beach. Bids would be opened in April, and if they are within the federal agency’s budget according to the Government Accountability Office, a contract would be awarded shortly after. Work, however, could take months to stage and begin, with dredge boats seeing extremely high demand and a recent history of bids coming in over budget, leading to protests under federal defense procurement policies.

Meanwhile, many of Ortley Beach’s beach entrances remain closed, with their fencing damaged, sand built up over the fencing, as well as the cliffs having formed. Most of the “Mobi-Mats” which allow easier access to the beaches for pedestrians were rolled up before the fall storm season, potentially saving the costly walking aids from being destroyed.

Mayor Dan Rodrick said Tuesday that his administration plans on making repairs to beaches in a similar manner as to how erosion issues have been dealt with in the past, however he is planning a slightly later start to the repairs.

Dune erosion ‘cliffs’ following multiple nor’easters in a week, Ortley Beach, N.J., March 12, 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Notoriously, in 2021, the previous mayoral administration repaired the beaches, only to have a nor’easter hit the area on Memorial Day, necessitating the work to have to be performed all over again a few weeks later.

“I think we’re going to hold off until at least Memorial Day or slightly after,” closer to the bathing season, said Rodrick.

The repairs normally include reopening beach entrances, moving sand to create a crossover path where erosion has eliminated the existing paths, and the trucking-in of sand to maintain the beach berm.

Dune erosion ‘cliffs’ following multiple nor’easters in a week, Ortley Beach, N.J., March 12, 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Funding for the federal project was approved in 2022, and last year, Ocean County pledged to cover the “local share” after the state declined to utilize infrastructure funding toward the cost of the project.