LBI Beach Replenishment Project Delayed By Weather, Recent Storm Damage

Bad weather and damage from recent storms has pushed back the completion date of Long Beach Island’s beach replenishment project almost to Memorial Day.

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company’s contract with the Army Corps of Engineers originally called for a finish date of April 12, 2016. But the Army Corps recently extended the completion date to May 21, 2016, spokesman Steve Rochette told The Sandpaper.

Replenishment efforts began in Ship Bottom in early May, then moved to Long Beach Township. The work recently was between 75th and 77th Streets in Beach Haven Crest. The dredge Liberty Island left the LBI project, and is expected to return in January, while the dredge Dodge Island remains.

That leaves an uncertain timeline for other areas on the island, like Loveladies, North Beach Haven and Holgate.

“There’s been no determination ‎on the next location for beachfill operations at this point,” Rochette said.

Also complicating the project are the roughly 32 easement holdouts in Loveladies and North Beach.

“The state of New Jersey, over the last months, has filed eminent domain on all of the Loveladies and North Beach (easement holdout) properties for the beach replenishment,“ Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini said recently. “That process is going to take awhile, because there’s been different guidelines as far as negotiations for the north end.”

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