New erosion threat to link between Ocean City, Strathmere
By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP — A long-term fight to protect the stretch of Ocean Drive between Ocean City and Strathmere continues with a county project aimed at stopping erosion.
At one time, there was beach between the two-lane roadway and Corson’s Inlet. Today, near the foot of the toll bridge leading to Strathmere is the start of a long stretch of rocks and sand built to keep storm tides off the roadway.
The reinforcement remains in place, but it does not cover the entire length of the road. It did not need to when it was constructed. However, erosion is now eating away the dirt and grassy section just past the protections.
At a recent Township Committee meeting, Committeeman Curtis Corson said the roadway is in imminent danger.
“One good storm, it’s going to go, I would think,” he said.
Cape May County is addressing the issue, according to Robert Church, the county engineer. Contacted after the Upper Township meeting, he said the county has approved an emergency contract to address the issue.
Last November, he said, he was alerted to scouring just north of the protective rock wall, eroding the dirt and plants of an embankment but not affecting the roadway.
“County forces were dispatched to temporarily reinforce the slope with fabric and rip rap to prevent further erosion,” Church said. “Unfortunately, although the temporary repair has held, the erosion has continued to the north of that repair, and there is another small area that has resulted in the collapse of the vegetated bank with erosion migrating toward the paving edge.”
Church estimated the cost of the project at $40,000 but said that would not be certain until the work is completed. The county purchased $20,000 worth of rip rap rocks to be used to shore up the bank.
If the problem is not addressed, he said, it could undermine the road. Over the next week or so, an emergency repair will use rip rap stone, fabric and stone-filled cages called gabions to protect the roadway.
“The gabions will be installed adjacent to the paving edge to act as a retaining wall and protective barrier against wave action,” Church said.
Past the 70-foot repair area, there is beach and a densely wooded stretch between the road and the water, “so we expect that this natural barrier will continue to provide storm protection,” Church continued.
During the Township Committee meeting, members raised concerns about access to the Strathmere section of the township, which can be reached only from the mainland along that road, through Sea Isle City or by boat.
In 2007, according to Church, the county installed rip rap rocks and sand with stabilizing plants along the water for 2,500 feet. The county also installed steel sheet piling in the most vulnerable section of the roadway.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the region hard, including that section of road. The storm-powered waves scoured the area where a steel sheet was not installed, taking the shoulder and a lane of the road with it, Church said.
“The county immediately responded by emergency contract and installed additional sheet piling and rip rap as a temporary means to allow the roadway to be repaired and re-opened,” Church said. “This repair held up for a long enough time to perform a permanent rehabilitation contract to address the obvious vulnerabilities of the previous work.”
The road runs along Corson’s Inlet and has often been hit hard by storms. That included a tornado last August that passed between Ocean City and Strathmere to cross the marsh and tear through homes and businesses in Marmora. On Ocean Drive, the twister tore up cedar trees on both sides of the road, leaving a mangled pile of branches and splinters and blocking a path through the small section of woods.