Project to Reactivate Cross-Bay Electrical Cable in Seaside Park Begins This Week, Boat Ramp to Close

A cable crossing sign remains at the site of a de-energized transmission line in Seaside Park which is planned to be replaced in 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Seaside Park officials say work on a plan to restore electrical cables that cross Barnegat Bay will begin this week, resulting in the closure of the borough’s boat ramp.

The project concerns the reactivated and replacement of what is known as the “X50” cable, a series of two submarine electrical transmission cables linking the barrier island to the mainland. The cables come ashore near the 14th Avenue boat ramp in Seaside Park and a small beach directly across the bay in the Bayville section of Berkeley Township.

Seaside Park officials announced that construction activities will begin Oct. 29, 2024, and will temporarily impact the parking area at the 13th Avenue Pier. Due to safety concerns, the boat ramp will be closed between Nov. 4 to Nov. 8. Residents have been advised that, if access to the boat ramp is needed during the time period, they should contact Matt Bennett, the on-site Construction Manager.

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This work is expected to occur between Nov. 1, 2024 and Dec. 14, 2024. Signs will be placed in the area during construction. JCP&L does not anticipate any disruption to electric service as a result of the project.

The 13th Avenue Pier and boat ramp in Seaside Park. (Photo: Shorebeat)

The project area of the X50 electrical cable project as submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Credit: USACE)

According to planning documents filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there are two cables that run across Barnegat Bay from the Berkeley Shores section of Bayville to the area near the 13th Avenue pier and boat ramp in Seaside Park. Adjacent to the boat ramp, an aging sign still warns boaters against anchoring near the shore since electrical cabling is present underneath. One of the two cables, however, was decommissioned in 1994 with the other having been taken offline in 2002. The utility is replacing the cables as part of a larger project to improve the reliability of the local transmission system and prepare for heavier usage in future years as New Jersey joins several states requiring all cars sold statewide to be electric by 2035.

The replacement of the “X50” submarine line project was proposed to the Army Corps in 2022 and went through a public comment period that fall. The transmission lines were originally laid in 1949 and 1968. One of the lines runs for 8,000 linear feet and the other for 7,950 linear feet. The utility line route was previously approved under NJDEP permits and plans dated March 21, 1949 and Aug. 30, 1968.

Under the plan as submitted to the Army Corps, the existing cables will be removed and replaced with new cables in three-foot wide trenches that cross the bay at a minimum depth of 12-feet under the sand in the Intracoastal Waterway channel and at least 4-feet deep underneath the remainder of the bay floor. They will connect from a riser pole in Bayville on the mainland side of the bay near the former AT&T long-line shortwave facility, and extend to an underground manhole near a 100-foot wide right-of-way near the Seaside Park municipal boat ramp at 13th Avenue.