Federal Government Awards $73.5M Beach Replenishment Contract for Northern Ocean County

Beach replenishment work in Toms River’s North Beaches, Oct. 15, 2018. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

After years of delays, contract disputes and legal wrangling, the long-awaited northern Ocean County beach renourishment project will come to fruition following the award of a $73.5 million contract Thursday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially awarded a contract for the project, which covers the area from Manasquan Inlet to South Seaside Park, to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company. Great Lakes was one of two bidders for the project. Its bid of $73,566,384 was selected above a proposal from competitors Weeks Marine in the amount of $86,727,185.

“After several contracting delays, this long-awaited project to restore our beaches that have suffered considerable erosion over the past years is finally ready to move forward,” said a statement from U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), who secured $30.2 million in federal funding for the project.

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Ocean County has committed to funding the entire “local share” of the project after the state rejected calls from local officials to utilize billions in untapped federal infrastructure funding to relieve the burden on local taxpayers. Municipal governments will not have to foot the bill for the portion the federal government does not cover.

Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, said his agency expects to announce project timelines in the coming weeks. While some towns – especially Toms River, where Ortley Beach’s shoreline has been devastated by coastal storms – are seeking to be prioritized, Seaside Heights officials said this week that they will work to ensure the work does not interrupt the busy summer tourism season, on which businesses depend for a year’s worth of revenue.

“It cannot be started in May,” said Mayor Anthony Vaz. “It has to be done pre-season or post-season – it’ll kill us.”

Progress on beach replenishment in Ortley Beach, three days after pumping began, June 1, 2017. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Beach replenishment in Seaside Park, N.J., Aug. 2018. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Beach replenishment begins in Seaside Heights, N.J., Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The project will be welcome news for Ortley Beach residents, as well as Toms River taxpayers, who have had to fund the importation of truckloads of sand each summer for the past several years. Though the protective dune created by the initial beach replenishment project after Superstorm Sandy was successful in building a protective dune, the beach berm – the portion of the sand where beachgoers set up their chairs and blankets – has been decimated by storms time and time again, leading to costly repairs of beach entrances, fencing and matting.

The Army Corps has previously said it will re-engineer the beach in Ortley based on data collected following the first round of replenishment. Ortley Beach is poised to receive 426,000 cubic yards of sand, the highest amount for any single portion of the project except for a multi-town portion that covers all of Point Pleasant Beach and Bay Head. The 426,000 cubic yards is separate from an additional 135,000 cubic yards of sand that will be pumped onto the North Beach portion of Toms River.

Lavallette will receive 184,000 cubic yards of sand while Seaside Heights will receive 219,000 and Seaside Park will receive 22,000. Brick Township will receive 227,000 cubic yards for its portion of the barrier island, while Mantoloking will see 392,000.

“We have never let up on securing this long-overdue, unjustly delayed project,” said Smith. “Our shore communities will benefit greatly from the federal assistance and partnership to address significant safety concerns from beach erosion and help blunt damaging effects of major storms.”

The project was originally planned to be awarded as far back as late 2021, however bids were rejected after they exceeded the federal government’s cost estimates. A later round of bidding was subject to a lengthy protest by one of the contractors pursuant to federal acquisition policies.

According to the project’s bid specifications, renourishment will also include engineering, the planting of fresh dune grass, plus upgrades to beach entrances and dune crossovers where necessary.

Smith said in his statement that while the work schedule is yet to be finalized, the project will likely be completed over the winter months — or possibly sooner.

“I am confident that the Army Corps will work closely with the contract awardee to help see that this important operation, now finally awarded, is not derailed again,” said Smith.

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company is based in Houston. It is the same firm that won the original beachfill contract for northern Ocean County.