January 31, 2012 – Long Beach Township beach project mobilization set to begin
The Army Corps of Engineers announced the next phase of work on the Long Beach Island beach replenishment project in Long Beach Township is set to begin soon.
Long Beach Twp. beach project mobilization set to begin
Jan. 31, 2012
Written by Nicholas Huba, Staff Writer
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP — Contractors are expected to start getting equipment in place for the township’s portion of the Long Beach Island beach replenishment project within two weeks, Army Corps of Engineers officials said.
“We expect the dredge to arrive offshore of Brant Beach and begin pumping by the end of February,” said Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the Corps of Engineers. “However, shore operations and mobilization should begin in the next two weeks.”
The dredge is completing a project in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Corps of Engineers officials said.
Mayor Joseph Mancini said township officials met with the Corps of Engineers on Friday to discuss the project.
“Everything is set to go,” Mancini said Tuesday morning during the township’s Board of Commissioners caucus meeting. “In a couple of weeks, beachfront owners will get a letter from the Corps explaining the project and the sounds that it’s going to generate.”
On Sept. 29, the Corps of Engineers awarded a contract for the replenishment of a 26-block stretch of beach in the Brant Beach section of the township to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. The base contract calls for the placement of 1.2 million cubic yards of sand on the beach, along with the construction of dune cross-overs, sand fencing and dune grass plantings, from 31st Street south to 57th Street.
The cost is estimated to be $16.7 million, officials said. However, the project cost could increase to $17.9 million if more sand and work are needed to complete the replenishment properly.
The aim of the beach replenishment project is to increase the size of the beach and dunes in each of the towns on the barrier island, except Barnegat Light, which chose not to take part because officials there felt their beaches did not need work. Harvey Cedars and Surf City are the only two municipalities to have the work completed.
Mancini said the Corps of Engineers is going to run the 35,000 feet of pipe from the borrow site, located seven miles off the coast, to the beach. The borrow site is the same site used in prior beach fill projects in Surf City and Harvey Cedars.
“Each day, they will be pumping 20,000 yards of sand to the beach,” Mancini said. “They are going to be moving 1,000 truckloads of sand.”
