Army Corps awards contract for Cape May County beach replenishment set to begin this fall

Dredging and beachfill operations are set to begin in a portion of Cape May County this fall, officials announced.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $7.5 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill. to complete periodic beach nourishment between Avalon and Stone Harbor.

The work, a joint project by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Army Corps, Avalon, and Stone Harbor to begin this fall, involves the dredging of approximately 425,000 cubic yards of sand from the Townsends Inlet, and pumping ashore.

According to the Army Corps, sand will be pumped from the Townsends Inlet south jetty area to around 19th Street in Avalon and then built into an engineered template designed to reduce impact from storms.

In Stone Harbor, the Army Corps will conduct beach surveys to determine whether to exercise a contract option to use accumulated sand within the dune system that exceeds the federal template height to nourish the berm in front of the dune.

The initial construction of the 150-foot berm backed by a dune was completed in 2002. The dune and beachfill project was nourished in 2011, 2013, and 2017.

Sixty-five percent of the funding is from the federal government, while New Jersey and the two municipalities are covering the remainder.