Politics & Government

Monmouth Beach Sand Replenishment Project Begins

The project will move north to Sea Bright in the coming weeks.

By Christopher Sheldon

The Monmouth Beach/Sea Bright beach replenishment project has begun, Congressman Frank Pallone D-6 announced during a press conference today in the borough.

Army Corps of Engineers New York District Commander Col. Paul E. Owen said the project is likely to be completed in about 80 days, or about the middle of October.

Pallone said the entire length of the beach will never be closed at one time and that the work will be done in stages so it does not interfere with the summer season.

The work began just north of Long Branch and has now moved up to the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion.

A bid for work for the Army Corps of Engineers Long Banch beach replenishment project is slated to be awarded in mid-August, Owen said.

The other contracts include the contract for the Asbury to Avon portion, which will be awarded in early September, and Belmar to Manasquan, which will be awarded this week.

"We're thinking around this time next year, maybe into August, is when we'll be able to have the whole 18-mile stretch, which does not include the three miles from Loch Arbour to Elberon, done," Owen said.

Owen said the Loch Arbour to Elberon section has been authorized but that there are "still some issues to work out with local communities."

"We're hopeful we can get those worked out and continue to provide a continuous 21-mile stretch of protection and risk reduction for this part of the Jersey Shore," Owen said.

Pallone said the Elberon to Loch Arbour section would begin at Takanassee Lake and end at Deal Lake and said that stretch of beach has never been replenished "because local officials were not interested."

"But in the aftermath of this storm and because of the damage and also probably because it's 100 percent federally funded, they decided they do want to do it, so we're in the process of basically doing some design work and getting the easements together for that," Pallone said. "We suspect we will be able to do that next year."

Owens said the amount of sand removed by Sandy from Sea Bright to Manasquan in 5 million cubic yards.

"We're going to put back 8 million cubic yards of sand, so we'll have 3 million more than what was removed from Sandy," Owens said. "That's going to allow us to get us to this restore component that matches to pre-storm conditions."

The Sea Bright to Manasquan project is the largest beach nourishment project ever undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers and the world’s biggest beach-fill project, in terms of sand volume, according to Pallone. The $100 million project is being funded by the Hurricane Sandy aid package passed by Congress earlier this year.


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