By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The north end beach replenishment project is steadily moving its way south.
As of Sunday morning, the operation, which is pumping sand to the shore through pipes from the dredge Ohio, anchored off Great Egg Harbor Inlet, was “concentrated” on the beach at First Street and St. Charles Place.
The city has reopened the beach entrance at North Street, but has closed the entrances at Stenton Place, St. James Place, First Street and St. Charles Place.
Over the course of the summer, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company is pumping some 1.5 million cubic yards of sand to rebuild the beaches from the terminal groin at Seaview Road to 13th Street.
The work began at the beginning of July by Morningside Road, and is moving two blocks at a time south to 13th Street. Once the beaches at 13th are done, the project will head north from Morningside to Seaview Road. All told, the project will build up about 2.1 miles of beaches in Ocean City.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers oversees the project which is part of a 50-year agreement to “renourish” the resort’s beaches in three-year cycles. The federal government picks up 65 percent of the cost and the state picks up the other 35 percent, but of that, Ocean City is responsible for a quarter of the state’s costs.
According to the city, the north end project and south end project – which has a different funding formula – combined cost more than $16 million, with Ocean City paying about $1.6 million.
South End work finished in January
The latest round of south end beach replenishment was completed in January of this year, putting some 505,000 cubic yards of sand on beaches between 45th and 59th streets, according to the city.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company also handled that project, which built up beaches and dunes across some 1.5 miles of the resort’s beaches.