By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The first part of a major beach replenishment project in Sea Isle City is expected to be completed by this weekend as work crews continue to make “good progress” to restore the storm-eroded shoreline, Mayor Leonard Desiderio said Tuesday.
In an update on the project during City Council’s meeting, Desiderio said work is fully underway to replenish the midtown beaches between 28th and 52nd streets.
“Right now, the project is making good progress, and we’re hopeful that the midtown replenishment work will be completed by this weekend,” he told Council during a meeting conducted by teleconference amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency overseeing the project, says 250,000 cubic yards of new sand will freshen up the midtown beaches.
The second phase of the project involves 510,000 cubic yards of new sand being added to the beaches in the south end of town between 74th and 93rd streets. Work in the south end will follow the midtown beaches and is expected to take four to five weeks to complete, according to estimates.
Most of the replenishment work involves widening the beaches. However, in some areas the dunes, beach access points and sand fencing will be repaired.
Heavy construction equipment and massive pipes crowd the midtown beaches where the project is taking place. No more than 1,000 feet of the beachfront will be closed at any one time during the work, which coincides with the peak summer tourism season.
“While it’s not an optimal time to temporarily close beaches, strengthening our shoreline is a critical effort that will add stability to our island and have long-term benefits for our community,” Desiderio said. “I’m grateful for everyone’s patience as we add much-needed sand to Sea Isle’s midtown and south end beaches.”
As the project continues, the city will provide daily updates on which beaches and dune paths are closed on the “Beach Fill” tab on the municipal website at www.seaislecitynj.us.
Sea Isle is part of a $32.5 million beach replenishment project that also includes Strathmere and Ocean City. There are options in the contract for even more sand if needed, which could increase the cost of the project to $41.3 million.
The project will be funded mostly by the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The three towns will each kick in a smaller share. Sea Isle’s contribution is expected to be less than $2 million, according to estimates.
Sea Isle suffered significant beach erosion in some spots during a lingering coastal storm that unleashed a series of unusually high tides over a four-day period in October 2019.
During the storm, huge chunks of sand were sliced away from the dunes, leaving cliff-like walls in some areas. Some beaches appeared bare – stripped of their powdery top layer of sand. Wooden dune fencing was torn to shreds.
Even before the October storm, beaches and dunes in Townsends Inlet between 88th and 93nd streets had suffered significant erosion. The sand dunes, in particular, were sheared away by the churning surf, creating jagged cliffs more than 10 feet high. The damaged dunes will be repaired as part of the beach replenishment project.
