Protection For Brick: Long-Awaited Army Corps Dune Project Goes Out To Bid

BRICK, NJ — Nearly four years after Superstorm Sandy tore through Route 35 and opened a temporary inlet at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge, the Army Corps of Engineers has begun seeking bids on a dune construction project that officials say will protect homes and businesses along the Northern Ocean County coast.

Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and Lt. Colonel Michael Bliss, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District, made the announcement at a news conference in Lavallette Thursday morning.

"Today is a day that was long anticipated," said Brick Township Mayor John G. Ducey, who was in attendance at the news conference along with mayors of the other affected towns. "The quicker we get the project done the quicker our residents are safe and sound."

"To be months away from the project starting is very exciting," Ducey said. "A lot of hard work got us to this point."

The Army Corps beach and dune project will cover 14 miles of coastline along the Barnegat Peninsula, from Point Pleasant Beach all the way to the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township, and is expected to cost about $150 million, officials have said. The work is expected to begin in the spring.

“We are pleased to be in a position to advertise the contract and move forward on this vital project,” Bliss said. "Getting to this point required a great deal of hard work at multiple levels of government. Ultimately, this project will serve to reduce the risk of storm damages for communities that were among the hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.”

That work has included obtaining easements for access to private and municipally owned properties all along the peninsula. Officials said out of 545 total easements needed, all but 149 have been obtained. Nearly 350 were granted voluntarily, officials said. Of the 149 condemnation proceedings in litigation under the Eminent Domain Act, 83 are in Bay Head, 53 in Point Pleasant Beach, nine in Berkeley and four in Mantoloking.

The fight to get easements has been a significant factor in delays on moving forward with the project, DEP and Army Corps officials have said in the past.

After the award of the bid, expected this fall, work will begin on the stretch from southern Mantoloking through Brick, Lavallette, Toms River, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park.

Work in Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head, northern Mantoloking and the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township will begin after necessary easements have been obtained, officials said.

A key part of the project is the construction of dunes and beaches along a four-mile stretch of sea wall in Mantoloking and Brick that the DEP teamed up with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to build as added protection for Route 35, which was severed when the Atlantic Ocean breached the peninsula at the base of the Mantoloking Bridge during Sandy.

Route 35 has since been reconstructed to modern design standards, but the wall, comprised of 40-foot-high steel sheet pilings driven deep into the sand, serves as emergency backup protection for the road with the beach and dune system providing primary protection to the roadway.

Over the course of the project, some 11 million cubic yards of sand will be pumped from offshore to build dunes and beaches. For most of the project area, dunes will be built 22 feet above sea level. Beaches will be constructed from 100 feet to 300 feet wide and 8.5 feet above sea level. The project area will receive periodic replenishment projects over the course of 50 years to replace sand lost through normal erosion, officials have said.

"This is not only about the new dune system protecting property, it is also about helping people sleep better, and reducing stress and anxiety that the next storm, even like today's nor'easter, may result in water again pouring down the street and threatening lives and belongings," said Paul Jeffrey, president of the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association. Jeffrey also was among a number of people invited to the announcement.

The federal government will be paying for 65 percent of the project using money approved under the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, which funds projects that Congress had previously authorized but had not been completed by the time Sandy hit in October 2012. New Jersey will pay for 35 percent of the project from the state’s Shore Protection Fund.

A number of residents, particularly in Brick and the Ortley Beach section of Toms River, had been clamoring for the project, particularly as the process of rebuilding homes has left many feeling vulnerable. The easements had been a thorn in the side of many, a sentiment voiced by Martin.

“We are grateful to the majority of property owners who stepped up and voluntarily provided their easements because they recognize that this is the right thing to do for their neighbors and their communities, not to mention for the protection of their own properties,” Martin said. “We remain disappointed in those who still cannot see the bigger picture. We will use all necessary means to secure these easements, including our court-affirmed eminent domain authority.”

The details on the Army Corps bid solicitation can be read by clicking here.

Brick Mayor John G. Ducey joined other local mayors and Lt. Colonel Michael Bliss of the Army Corps of Engineers and state DEP Commissioner Bob Martin for announcement of the seeking of bids for the beach and dune project. Photo by Stacy Proebstle, Toms River Township