Re: New N.J. beach access rules a big step back backward: Star-Ledger Editorial
I hate beach replenishment.
General Media News
http://atl.gmnews.com/news/2013-07-1...his_month.html
Army Corps to begin beach replenishment this month
Staff Writer
The first phase of a $102 million project that will replenish beaches from the Manasquan Inlet to Sea Bright will begin later this month in Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright.
Chris Gardner, public affairs specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, said approximately 8 million cubic yards of sand were lost along the coast from Sea Bright to the inlet during the Oct. 29 storm.
“We’re authorized to use federal dollars to replace that sand,” he said. “With the Sandy relief bill, we are authorized to not just replace the sand lost, but to restore the project to its original design profile.”
During the first phase, 2.5 million cubic yards of sand will be pumped onto the beaches at the two oceanfront towns. The $25.6 million contract for the work was awarded to Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co.
According to Gardner, the project involves restoring sand to the specifications of the original beach replenishment work done along the same stretch of coastline that began in the mid-1990s and concluded in 2001.
He said that because the original project did not involve the construction of sand dunes, they would not be included in this phase.
“It’s repairing and restoring the original project, and the original project did not include dunes,” Gardner said. “So it is what the Corps of Engineers and the state of New Jersey constructed originally.”
The issue of dunes was discussed at a previous council meeting, where Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long suggested that dunes be built on the municipal beach once the sand replenishment project is completed.
According to Gardner, the state is divided into two districts, with the New York office of the Army Corps having jurisdiction north of the Manasquan Inlet and the Philadelphia office having oversight south of the inlet. The northern district is divided into four regions: Manasquan to Belmar; Avon to Asbury Park; Long Branch; and Monmouth Beach to Sea Bright.
According to Gardner, the reason that Long Branch stands alone in the replenishment project is because the area between Long Branch and Asbury Park was not part of the original sand replenishment project.
“There’s a gap in the project in the towns of Deal and Elberon,” he said. “That project was never constructed, so we have no authority to repair.
“As I understand it, back in the 1990s it was never constructed, [and] the reason was related to public access issues.”
Replenishment of the beachfront in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach for the first contract will likely begin by the end of July and be completed in the winter.
The contracts for the other project areas are slated to be awarded throughout the summer and early fall.
Gardner said it is a misconception that sand replenishment is beneficial only for recreational uses.
“We’re excited to do this work along the beaches,” he said. “A lot of people view them as recreation, but the fact of the matter is they do provide a lot of risk reduction.”
“[The engineered beaches] prevent a lot of potential damages,” he added. “They still mitigated the damage, and it could have been a lot worse if the work that had been done in past years hadn’t been done.”
The replenishment about to get underway will have some impact on day-to-day beach operations, but will not result in large-scale beach closures, he said.
“There will be small sections closed while they are actually doing the work with the heavy equipment,” he said. “They shouldn’t be closing entire stretches. The idea is to limit it to where the work is going on.”
He also explained how the sand is sourced for replenishment.
“The process of getting sand involves really large, specialized equipment,” Gardner said. “For this particular project, there is a borrow area off the coast of Sea Bright, a few miles offshore.
“These massive vessels will go out with vacuum arms on the side of the boat [that] lower down into the water and **** it up, and there will be filters to make sure nothing bad gets on the beach.”
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) said in a press release that the replenishment would benefit the storm-battered towns in his district, including Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach.
“Unfortunately, superstorm Sandy made the conditions of some of our beaches go from bad to worse. But once this project is complete, our beaches will be replenished and wider than they were even before the storm,” he said.
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