Stone Harbor Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour, Council Members Joselyn Rich and Ray Parzych, Administrator Jill Gougher, Public Works Supervisor Craig Reeves and Municipal Engineer Mark DeBlasio attended the weekly progress meeting on Thursday, March 2 in the Stone Harbor Fire House. Officials from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company announced that the beach fill in Stone Harbor has been progressing and now there are only 160,000 cubic yards of sand to be placed on approximately 1,800 linear feet in Stone Harbor before the beach fill operations leave Stone Harbor and move to the Borough of Avalon.

During the Stone Harbor portion of the project, Great Lakes is stockpiling sand on the beach that will be used to reconstruct crossovers to allow for public access. Later in the project, dune grass will be planted. The beach fill project in Stone Harbor’s initial phase will be slightly shorter, but wider which will provide more protection for the community. Stone Harbor’s portion of the project should finish in approximately seven to ten days barring any major weather concerns or mechanical failure on the dredge “Texas”. At that point, the “Texas” will be moved to Townsend’s Inlet for the Avalon portion of the project. The daily production rate of the “Texas” is approximately 20,000 cubic yards to date, but that production level is expected to increase in the coming weeks and for the Avalon portion of the project.

Over the next week, more dredge pipe and equipment will move from Stone Harbor to Avalon for this beach fill project. It is anticipated to begin in Avalon on or about March 15th.

A Request for Proposal has been requested from Great Lakes for an additional 320,000 cubic yards of sand that would be financed through emergency FCCE funding obtained by the federal government. This funding would also provide a new beach for Stone Harbor and Avalon from 76th Street to 103rd Street. This phase will be completed once Phase I in Avalon is done.

There have been no safety issues or any injuries to any of the crew during this beach fill project to date.