Critical beach replenishment work for Jersey Shore towns in the Fourth Congressional District is scheduled to begin next month, announced Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester). 

            “I am pleased that after several contracting delays, this long-awaited project to restore our beaches that have suffered considerable erosion over the past years is finally moving forward,” said Smith, who secured $30.2 million in federal funding for the project.

            “We have never let up on securing this long-overdue, unjustly delayed project,” said Smith. “That we have at last received a schedule with real target dates on it gives us great confidence that the desperately needed beach replenishment will finally take place and better protect our beach towns.

            “Our shore communities will benefit greatly from the federal assistance and partnership to address significant safety concerns from beach erosion and help blunt damaging effects of major storms,” he said.

            The tentative schedule, which could vary slightly based on weather and sea conditions, entails the following six-to-seven-month construction estimate:

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

            The project, which has faced several setbacks, had been in serious jeopardy before Smith intervened in January 2022 and secured the entire federal share—or approximately half of the $73.5 million total cost—from the federal infrastructure bill passed by Congress. The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract in October to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Houston, TX.

            In total, the contract calls for dredging and placing 2.1 million cubic yards of sand onto Ocean County beaches. Sand will be dredged from three separate approved borrow areas located offshore of the project area in the Atlantic Ocean. The sand will then be pumped onto the beach and graded into an engineered template, which is designed to reduce damage from coastal storm events.

            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.

            “I am grateful for the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers—our nation’s premier builders—for getting this project to the finish line,” said Smith, “as well as to their partners at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Ocean County and the municipalities.”

            The beach fill project was initially constructed between 2017-2019 and requires periodic “renourishment” to bring it back to its originally constructed specifications.

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