Beach Replenishment Project Set to Begin in Island Towns in January, Continue Through Spring

Beach replenishment begins in Lavallette, Jan. 30, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The years-long wait for a beach renourishment project that will see millions of cubic yards of sand pumped onto local beaches, plus the re-engineering of areas prone to erosion, will begin in January and run through the spring in most island towns, with a few areas set for work in early summer.

The Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Houston, Tx., will begin its $73.5 million project within weeks. The company’s vessels are already in the region, operating out of Barnegat Inlet for work in Long Beach Island. The dredge and pumper boats will move to the northern barrier island shortly. The base contract awarded to the company by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia district calls for dredging and placing 2.1 million cubic yards of sand onto local beaches.

The project will begin in Seaside Heights, where completion needed to be guaranteed before the summer tourism season since required beach and boardwalk access could present safety issues at the height of the seasonal rush. Next will come Ortley Beach, which will receive one of the largest physical amounts of sand amidst a re-engineering of the beach berm – the portion of the sand between the dune and the ocean – to widen it in order to prevent repeated erosion events that have decimated beach entrances and cost Toms River Township hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in repairs.

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Lavallette will come third, starting in March, followed by several other areas of the barrier island. The full schedule of work includes:

• Seaside Heights (with taper into Seaside Park): 241,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in January and February.
• Ortley Beach: 426,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in February/March.
• Lavallette: 184,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in March.
• Bay Head (with taper into Point Pleasant Beach): 495,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in spring.
• Mantoloking: 392,000 cubic yards of sand work is estimated to take place in Spring.
• Brick Township: 227,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in early Summer.
• Toms River (North Beaches): 135,000 cubic yards of sand – work is estimated to take place in Summer.

Sand will be dredged from three separate approved borrow areas located offshore of the project area in the Atlantic Ocean. The sand is then pumped onto the beach through a network of pipes that run to shore, and graded into an engineered template, which is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events.

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

According to USACE officials, most of the base contract work involves widening the beach in eroded areas. In some areas, dunes, beach access paths, crossovers, and sand fencing will be repaired. Dune grass will be planted in areas that undergo repairs.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company currently plans to mobilize to the project area by January 2025. Construction is expected to take between six and seven months, depending on weather and overall production. The project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Ocean County and the municipalities. The beachfill project was initially constructed between 2017 and 2019.