Toms River to spend $500k on shoring up beaches pummeled by storm
Construction crews in Ortley Beach today. (Image: Michael LaFalce Photography)
Crews will begin delivering sand tomorrow to beaches in Toms River that were severely eroded during the nor’easter earlier this week.
75% of the municipality’s dunes was lost during the storm in its barrier island section, and several walkovers were destroyed, according to a township release.
Images and videos shot in the township’s Ortley Beach section showed significant erosion on the beach.
Toms River officials estimate that it’ll cost $500,000 for beach repairs and sand delivery, which will begin in Ortley Beach and will later move to Normandy Beach.
An image from Michael LaFalce, above, shows crews today in Ortley Beach getting the area ready for sand delivery.
The township has secured an emergency contract with Cardinal Construction to import sand, and Mayor Thomas Kelaher has requested financial assistance from the state, the release said.
Last January, a strong nor’easter consumed about 98% of the protective sand mounds on the township’s beaches.
Since Oct. 2015, the Ocean County municipality has spent more than two million dollars on replenishing beaches after various storms.
The state has provided $1,750,000 in grants to assist with the beach restoration efforts since that time, APP.com reported last year. The township transferred $5 million last year from a capital bond ordinance to a beach repair fund, the website reported.
A federal beach replenishment and dune restoration project is set to begin this spring in a 14-mile stretch between Point Pleasant Beach and South Seaside Park, which includes Toms River.
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