Preparations Underway for Ocean City Sand Pumping Work

The Ocean City team members participated in a pre-construction meeting last week to go over plans for an $11.5 million project to rebuild beaches at the northern end of the island, Mayor Jay Gillian said in its latest announcement.

The work will add at least 930,000 cubic yards of sand between Seaspray Road and 12th Street and stockpile more for rebuilding dunes in areas near Fifth Street and 10th Street.

Surveys to be conducted in the next few weeks could add to the scope of the project and could potentially extend the project area by a block or two. The work will begin by the end of October and is expected to take approximately 50 days and be complete by January 2018 at the latest, said the mayor.

The work will be powered by the 305-foot cutter suction dredge Texas, which will pump sand from a borrow area about a mile off Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The pipeline from the dredge will land on the beach at Morningside Road. Crews will work north of this spot first, then proceed south.

A work area of approximately 1,000 feet will be closed to beachgoers and move down the beach as the work progresses, according to the announcement.

“This is the eighth Army Corps of Engineers renourishment project since an initial restoration in the 1990s. I want to thank our partners at the federal and state levels, who will pay more than 90 percent of the job’s cost. These projects are absolutely vital to the protection of property in Ocean City. The south end also remains on schedule for replenishment sometime in late 2018 or early 2019,” said Gillian.

In a separate project, a contractor is mobilizing pipeline for hydraulic dredging at Carnival Bayou (between W. 16th Street and W. 17th Street). Work is expected to start by Oct. 16. The contractor is authorized to dredge private slips once the city contract is complete.

“The state Department of Transportation will contribute about $1.2 million of the project’s estimated $1.6 million cost. A contract for the mechanical dredging of Sunny Harbor and South Harbor is scheduled to be awarded on Oct. 12. “Site 83” off Roosevelt Boulevard has been successfully emptied and restored, so we should be in good position for a continued dredging program in 2018,” said Gillian.

Work on the boardwalk reconstruction project will begin on Monday, Oct. 16.

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