South end, Strathmere, Sea Isle all awaiting sand replenishment
OCEAN CITY — Sand is finally being pumped onto beaches in Ocean City’s south end after a delay in awarding the contract pushed it back by several months.
Mayor Jay Gillian stated in his weekly public letter that Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. towed the dredge Illinois into place off Corsons Inlet on Thursday and started pumping sand Friday.
“The contractor will pump 257,000 cubic yards of sand onto Ocean City beaches between 45th Street and 59rh Street over the next couple weeks. The project is starting in the area between 56th Street and 57th Street, and about 1,000 feet of beach will be closed to public access at any given time as work progresses northward,” Gillian stated.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District awarded a $33.7 million contract Oct. 26 to complete periodic nourishment of the Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsends Inlet Coastal Storm Risk Management project.
The cost for the Ocean City portion of the work is $6.8 million. Of that, the city’s share is estimated at $850,000. The balance is paid by the federal Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to city public information officer Doug Bergen.
The project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Ocean City, Sea Isle City and Upper Township. Work is designed to maintain the dune and berm system in the communities and reduce the risk of storm damages to coastal infrastructure.
According to the Army Corps, the contract calls for dredging more than 1.3 million cubic yards of sand from two borrow areas — one located off Corsons Inlet and the other about 3 miles offshore of Sea Isle City. The sand will be pumped onto the beach at the following locations:
— 257,000 cubic yards in south Ocean City from about 45th to 59th streets
— 456,000 cubic yards in the Strathmere section of Upper Township, from Corsons Inlet to about Jasper Road.
— 252,000 cubic yards in central Sea Isle City from about 29th to 53rd streets
— 388,000 cubic yards in south Sea Isle City from about 73rd Street to Townsends Inlet
The sand will then be graded into an engineered dune and berm template designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events. The contract also includes options for the placement of additional sand. Dune crossovers/access paths, fencing and other features will be installed/repaired as part of the contract.
Work is expected to take about 9 months to complete.
The contract was expected to be awarded in August but bids came in higher than anticipated and had to be resubmitted.
Gillian stated the contractor anticipates about 16 days of pumping in Ocean City before the work is complete in mid-December. Operations are then expected to move on to Strathmere.
“We have been working with the Army Corps and the state Department of Environmental Protection for more than 30 years on these projects, and I’m grateful for an excellent working partnership to protect our coastline,” Gillian stated.
Upper Township Administrator Gary Demarzo said the township’s share of the project is $1.3 million, plus another $37,500 to cut or remove timber piling exposed just north of Winthrop Avenue.
But Demarzo warned the cost could be higher.
“‘Unusually strong wave action,’ as the state phrased the issue, has uncovered substantially more piling that will have to be addressed, as well as the added beach replenishment costs,” Demarzo stated via email. “Final numbers will not be available until the project is completed.”
He said work is expected to start before the end of the year.
“We just had a status meeting. They are mustering survey work now and supposed to start mid-December to January. That’s our window for the major portion of it,” he said.
Erosion has taken a heavy toll on Strathmere, particularly the northern end near Corsons Inlet. Conditions were so bad that in late June, Township Committee warned the public to stay away from the worst areas.
“It is a dangerous situation and we want to keep people off the dunes,” Mayor Jay Newman said June 26, noting erosion had carved out cliffs at least 10 feet high.
Committeeman Curtis Corson said that while several beaches were closed through summer, it is better to get replenishment in the fall or winter.
“If it would have happened in the middle of the summer, we would have lost three or four beaches when they were working. Then we would have had the pipes in the middle of the beach, would have had to build ramps over the pipes and the guards would have been stuck on one side,” he said in August, upon learning the project was delayed. “So it probably worked out for the better.”
Sea Isle City appropriated $3.2 million Nov. 14 to pay its share of the project. Mayor Len Desiderio announced in his weekly newsletter that the island would get sand in April and May 2024.
“This is very good news for our community — and I feel that it is also very good news that the replenishment work will take place in the springtime, because it will alleviate any concerns that may arise if we encounter a winter storm during the months ahead,” Desiderio stated.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff