Beach Replenishment update as of Thursday February 23, 2017

This update provided by SHPOA Beach & Bay Committee

The dredge “Texas” arrived February 14^th, 2017 and has begun the dredging work to replenish our Stone Harbor beaches.  Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, under contract with the Army Corp of Engineers, will use the “Texas” to collect sand from the Hereford Inlet.  An estimated 390,000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped through 4,000 feet of pipe to replenish the beaches between 95^th Street to 123^rd Street.  As of today, the beaches are closed from 115^th Street to 118^th Street.   This first phase of the Stone Harbor dredging project should be completed in a few weeks.

The second phase of the Stone Harbor dredging project is to move the “Texas” to the Townsend Inlet to replenish Avalon’s beaches from 76^th Street to 80^th Street and then Stone Harbor beaches from 80^th to 95^th Streets.  The Army Corp and NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are currently waiting for a decision from the State of New Jersey on their request to expand the borrow area of Townsends Inlet.  Due to the identification of a sunken boat the amount of available sand was reduced.  Without the expansion of the area there would not be enough sand to pump onto Avalon and Stone Harbor beaches.  The award of the final options was delayed until this approval comes through.  According to representative of the DEP that approval is making its way through the various departments and they expect to reactive all necessary approvals some time on Friday.