Sea Isle workers install new dune fencing at 94th Street in the south end of town. (Photo courtesy of Sue Williamson)
The sand dunes form a natural barrier to protect the shoreline against coastal storms, acting as a massive wall to block the raging surf from damaging or destroying homes and businesses.
But the dunes need some protection, too.
Recognizing that fact, Sea Isle City has begun installing new fencing around the dunes in the south end of the island to help keep them in good shape.
The fencing will also protect the newly planted dune grass that fortifies the dunes and allows them to become stronger as they mature during their natural growth cycle.
“We take shore protection very seriously here in Sea Isle City. Protecting our dunes, including installing dune fencing – which helps keep the dunes in place and also serves as a reminder for people not to walk on the dunes – is one of several efforts to help keep our shoreline strong,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
City workers were out on the south end beaches Friday morning to install dune fencing on 94th Street. They plan to erect fencing all the way down to 83rd Street, according to Sue Williamson, a local resident who is a member of Sea Isle’s Environmental Commission.
Williamson also serves as director of Sea Isle’s family-friendly summer beachcombing tours that combine fun with education while teaching children about the shore’s fragile ecosystem.
She appeared at the Jan. 14 City Council meeting to urge city officials to install more fencing around the dunes as a protective measure.
Now that the fencing work is being done, Williamson is ecstatic.
“I am very pleased to see the city taking such excellent care of our beautiful dunes to preserve our beaches for the future,” she said.
Stalks of newly planted dune grass poke out of the sand in the south end of Sea Isle.A walk along the beaches reveals that large stretches of the dunes, particularly in the south end of the island, already have some fences built around them or on top of them for protection.
But Williamson urged city officials to also build fences on the beach side of the dunes to help protect them, as well as the newly planted dune grass. She had expressed concern that the immature grass would be damaged by people carelessly walking on the dunes or even sliding down the sandy hills on their boogie boards.
Much to Williamson’s satisfaction, the new fencing that is going up now will protect the beach side of the dunes, too.
“This is great news on the dune front,” she said.
To strengthen the dunes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planted dune grass as the last part of a beach replenishment project in 2024 that restored Sea Isle’s storm-eroded shoreline with more than 900,000 cubic yards of fresh sand.
Previously, sections of Sea Isle’s beaches and dunes had been severely eroded by coastal storms. The waves literally washed away huge amounts of sand. In some cases, the beaches were stripped of the top layer of powdery sand and the dunes were sheared away to create steep, cliff-like edges.
Last year, a total of 932,000 cubic yards of new sand was added to the shoreline from 73rd Street to 94th Street in the south end of the island and from 29th Street to 53rd Street in the central part of town. The fresh sand widened the beaches and restored the dunes.
The young dunes that have the newly planted vegetation will link up with more mature dunes nearby that are covered with thick grass to form a sandy barrier protecting Sea Isle from one end of the island to the other.
The new fencing will also help to protect newly planted dune grass that strengthens the dunes. (Photo courtesy of Sue Williamson)
