Sea Isle City’s beach replenishment project to start in June

Beachgoers in Sea Isle City may have to be a bit patient in June.

They will be sharing the sand with an army of bulldozers, earthmovers construction workers and massive pipes.

All of that activity will be part of a beach replenishment project stretching from 29th Street to 55th Street. Altogether, more than a mile of the eroded beachfront will be restored with 479,000 cubic yards of fresh sand.

Mayor Leonard Desiderio said the project is expected to begin in early June and be completed by the end of the month.

During the project, sections of the beach will have to be closed for construction work. Desiderio said no more than 1,000 feet of the beach will be closed at any one time.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with beach replenishment in the summer, and I’m confident that the work will be able to be accomplished with as little inconvenience as possible,” Desiderio said in a statement to the public.

Coincidentally, Sea Isle’s last two beach replenishment projects, in 2020 and 2024, also were done during parts of the busy summer tourism season.

This time around, as they did in 2020 and 2024, beachgoers will have to tolerate some inconveniences when the heavy construction machinery and massive pipes take over parts of the shoreline.

Wide, beautiful beaches are considered essential for attracting vacationers to the shore during the busy summer season.

Dune crossovers, access paths, fencing and other features of the beach will also be installed or repaired as part of the contract.

    New sand will be pumped onto Sea Isle City's beaches from 29th Street to 55th Street.
  

Surveying work for the beach replenishment project is scheduled to begin this week. The contractor is expected to begin mobilizing construction equipment prior to Memorial Day weekend to prepare to start the work in June, Desiderio said.

“The replenishment work is scheduled to start around the first of June and is expected to be completed by the end of June. Work of this nature is very dependent on sea conditions, so we need to be aware of that when it comes to the schedule,” he said.

The sand will be dredged from a “borrow area” located about three miles offshore of Sea Isle and pumped onto the beaches through a network of giant pipes.

Desiderio noted that the city will keep the public updated on the progress of the project on its website, email and social media accounts.

Sea Isle and neighboring Strathmere are part of a $21.6 million beach replenishment contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

In Strathmere, about 1.4 million cubic yards of new sand will be pumped onto a mile-long stretch of beach from north of Seaview Avenue to where Commonwealth Avenue meets Landis Avenue in the far southern part of town.

Some shore towns have been struggling with severe erosion to their beaches and dunes caused by a series of offshore hurricanes and coastal storms in recent months.

Strathmere, for instance, recently was forced to demolish its former Beach Patrol headquarters after erosion washed away part of the dune under the building.

On April 6, South Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who represents the shore communities, announced plans by the Army Corp of Engineers to spend $99 million in federal funding for beach replenishment projects in Ocean City, Strathmere, Sea Isle City, Avalon and Stone Harbor.

The Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting bids for separate replenishment projects in the north end of Ocean City and for Avalon and Stone Harbor.

    Where needed, beach pathways will also be restored as part of the replenishment project.