USA: Avalon Beach Renour­ish­ment About to Begin

A major beach nour­ish­ment project that will repair the beach­front in Avalon and Stone Har­bor is expected to get under­way right before the Christ­mas hol­i­day.

A dredge that will pump up to 710,000 thou­sand cubic yards on the beaches in both com­mu­ni­ties is expected to begin on or about Sun­day, Decem­ber 23rd. This project has been autho­rized by the United States Army Corps of Engi­neers and will repair the beach­front that was dam­aged dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Irene in August, 2011 and by Hur­ri­cane Sandy in Octo­ber, 2012. This project is being com­pletely funded by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The Army Corps held a part­ner­ing meet­ing with offi­cials from both com­mu­ni­ties on Wednes­day, Decem­ber 19th in Avalon. The Corps announced that emer­gency fund­ing has been secured that will result in extra sand being placed on the beach­front that will restore sec­tions of both beaches that were impacted dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Sandy in late Octo­ber. Dur­ing the sum­mer of 2012, the Corps had agreed to a beach fill project to restore beaches in Avalon and Stone Har­bor that were dam­aged dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Irene. Since the dredge will already in place for that project, the Corps will begin nega­tions with the con­trac­tor to place even more sand on the beaches for repairs incurred by Hur­ri­cane Sandy.

“Both Avalon and Stone Har­bor are extra­or­di­nar­ily for­tu­nate to have had this project secured and under con­tract well before the arrival of Hur­ri­cane Sandy”, said Avalon Mayor Mar­tin Pagli­ughi. “The dredge that was con­tracted to be in place to repair dam­age from Irene can also repair dam­age from Sandy. This not only guar­an­tees both com­mu­ni­ties will have a pro­tec­tive and recre­ational beach for 2013, but will free up the dredge for other essen­tial beach fill projects that are needed in other parts of the State of New Jersey”.

On Decem­ber 19th, offi­cials from the Army Corps announced that sev­eral options requested by both com­mu­ni­ties for addi­tional sand to repair beaches dam­aged by Hur­ri­cane Irene have been secured and added to the con­tract. The Army Corps also announced that they will begin nego­ti­a­tions imme­di­ately with Nor­folk Dredg­ing Com­pany for the extra vol­umes of sand needed to repair dam­age from Hur­ri­cane Sandy.

“Stone Har­bor and Avalon have invested heav­ily for decades into our com­pre­hen­sive beach and dune man­age­ment pro­gram”, said Stone Har­bor Mayor Suzanne Wal­ters. “This invest­ment resulted in a tremen­dous level of pro­tec­tion to both com­mu­ni­ties dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Sandy. This beach project will restore the level of pro­tec­tion for both com­mu­ni­ties in advance of next year’s storm season”.

Norfolk’s dredge “Charleston” is expected to arrive in Avalon dur­ing the upcom­ing week­end with sand being pumped on the beach­front start­ing on or about Sun­day, Decem­ber 23rd, weather con­di­tions per­mit­ting. The dredge will con­tinue to pump sand 24 hours a day, seven days a week includ­ing hol­i­days. On Feb­ru­ary 6th, 2013, the oper­a­tion will be sus­pended and moved to Fire Island, New York to con­duct a manda­tory beach nour­ish­ment project in that com­mu­nity. When that project is com­pleted in the spring, the “Charleston” will come back to Avalon to fin­ish work in that com­mu­nity before mov­ing to Stone Har­bor. If beach work in Avalon is con­cluded before Feb­ru­ary 6th, the dredge will return to New Jer­sey after the Fire Island project to begin or resume work imme­di­ately in Stone Har­bor. The project will only be sus­pended in the Seven Mile Beach due to mechan­i­cal or weather-related issues before and after the Fire Island project.

Avalon’s beach fill project will result in a poten­tial total of 290,000 cubic yards of sand being placed on north end beaches from 9th Street south to 30th Street. Avalon will also receive 2,200 lin­ear feet of new dune grass that will be planted from 9th Street south to 16th Street. Stone Harbor’s beach fill project will result in a poten­tial of 420,000 cubic yards of sand that will be placed on the beach­front from 98th Street south to the 123rd Street ter­mi­nal groin.

The emer­gency fund­ing will also finance dune work, dune grass plant­i­ngs, sand fenc­ing, and beach crossover work in the project area.

[mappress]

Press Release, December 21, 2012