After delays, N.J. beach replenishment project to get underway

A $32.5 million beach replenishment and dune building project in Cape May County that was scheduled to begin earlier this year will soon get underway, officials said.

According to a notice posted on Sea Isle City’s website, the contractor, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill., is currently delivering equipment to the city’s beaches.

The hopper dredge Liberty Island will pump more than 2.4 million cubic yards of sand ashore in Sea Isle City and northern Ocean City as part of periodic beach nourishment. The notice says the work is set to begin shortly after June 20 and last approximately 40 days in Sea Isle City.

The sand will be built into an engineered template designed to reduce storm impacts, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. While most of the work will involve beach widening, some areas will receive repairs to dunes, beach access points, and sand fencing.

Operations will be ongoing 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1,000-foot stretches of beach at a time. Officials say the dredge pipes will run north-to-south along the shoreline, with sand mounds over the pipes that will allow access to the ocean.

In late March, seaislenews.com reported that delays were due to dredging equipment availability, not the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government is responsible for 65% of the contract fee, while the state covers most of the remainder.