Dune Project Dredge Arriving Sunday In Ortley Beach

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Dredges that will used to take sand from the Atlantic Ocean floor and transfer it to the beach are expected to finally arrive in Ortley Beach on Sunday morning.

Toms River officials said in a news release that the township officials had been notified Friday that the first trailing suction hopper dredge — the ship that suctions sand from the ocean so it can be transferred to the shore — is scheduled to arrive Sunday morning.

"Sand import will begin shortly thereafter," officials said in the news release.

The project contractor, Weeks Marine, had been expected to start pumping sand in Ortley Beach in mid-April as the beginning of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' $128 million project to build beaches and dunes in northern Ocean County.

But the project's beginning had been delayed while Weeks Marine, based in Cranford, completed another project in Panama City, Florida. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced Friday.

Over the course of two weeks, Ortley Beach will receive approximately 267,000 cubic yards of sand, creating an approximately 225-foot-wide beach.

Weeks Marine then will movewill shift to do work on the Absecon Island beach and dune construction project in Atlantic County, and will work on other beaches in northern Ocean County during the summer and into early next year. Dune and beach construction work for Ortley Beach will resume in the fall, officials said.

"However, contrary to what the contractor originally proposed, the project will start working toward the south first, so that there will be more working room to transport equipment to and from the staging area near the Seaside border," officials said in the news release.

The closure of the beach still will be limited to 1,000 feet at a time, and sand ramps will be provided over the pipe where it crosses the open beach areas, officials said.

Photo via Toms River, New Jersey municipal Facebook page