At Long Last, Army Corps Awards $92M Dune Contract For Northern Ocean County

The agonizing months of waiting for action are finally over. Fifty months after Superstorm Sandy devastated the barrier peninsula in Ocean County, breaching the peninsula and cutting off access from the Mantoloking Bridge while destroying thousands of homes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract to construct long-awaited engineered beaches and dunes.

The $92 million base contract was awarded late Tuesday to Weeks Marine of Cranford, according to news releases from the Army Corps and the state Department of Environmental Protection, which worked together on the project. The first phase of construction, is expected to include the stretch from Seaside Park to Brick, where easements to allow the work are in place, is expected to begin in the spring.

The total contract amount is expected to reach about $128 million as work progresses to additional areas of the peninsula where the state is continuing to work to secure access easements from property owners, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said.

“We are very pleased that this crucial project is moving forward,” Martin said.

"It's going to make a lot of us breathe a lot easier," said Paul Jeffrey, president of the Ortley Beach Voters and Taxpayers Association in Toms River. Ortley Beach was ground zero during Sandy, with hundreds of homes decimated. While other parts of the barrier island were reopened to residents within days of Sandy, Ortley Beach residents were unable to return to their homes for three weeks.

"A lot of people (in Ortley Beach) say, 'Every time a storm comes I'm just deathly afraid the waves will come rolling down the street again,'" Jeffrey said. "We will all sleep a little easier once the dunes are in place."

Work will begin in the spring and will progress in 1,000-foot sections to minimize impacts to residents and visitors, the DEP said.

“This represents one of the largest beach-fill contracts in the history of the United States Army Corps of Engineers,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Philadelphia District Commander Lt. Col. Michael Bliss. “The engineered dune and berm system will serve the vital purposes of reducing risk and helping to protect people and property.”

The Army Corps said more than 11 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged from approved borrow areas and pumped through a series of pipes onto the beaches of the municipalities. The sand will then be built into a dune and berm system designed to reduce potential damages to infrastructure, businesses and homes that can occur from coastal storm events. Dunes will be built to an elevation of 22 feet. Beaches will be constructed from 100 feet to 300 feet wide and to an elevation of 8.5 feet, the Army Corps said.

The project area will be eligible to receive periodic nourishment over the course of 50 years to replace sand lost through erosion. In addition, the contract includes the construction of dune crossovers, placement of sand fencing, and dune grass plantings.

"I am delighted at the news the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded the contract for the dune and beach replenishment project," Toms River Mayor Thomas H. Kelaher said. "This is the result of perseverance and cooperation between the township, the Attorney General’s office, the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection office under Commissioner Bob Martin."

"I am looking forward to this work getting started before the summer beach season," Kelaher said. "Once completed, the Army Corps of Engineers project will provide long term stability and peace of mind to all of the residents on the barrier island."

"This is another step toward this very much-needed project," Brick Township Mayor John Ducey said. "I am eagerly awaiting the start and, more importantly, the finish of the project so our residents can finally have the protection designed by the Army Corps of Engineers."

"We've spent millions of dollars in federal and state funds, as well as personal money, to rebuild from Sandy," Jeffrey said. "Until this (project), this investment has been at a monstrous risk. Having these dunes will protect that investment."

Work will begin with beach and dune construction in southern Mantoloking, as well as all of Lavallette, Toms River, Seaside Heights and Seaside Park. Work in Bay Head, Berkeley, northern Mantoloking and Point Pleasant Beach will begin after all necessary easements have been obtained, the DEP said.

A total of 545 easements are needed for the project. An easement is a legal right of access to private or municipally owned property the Army Corps and DEP need to perform construction. Nearly 350 easements – or 64 percent – had been provided voluntarily, the DEP said. The state also obtained 54 additional easements through condemnation proceedings under the Eminent Domain Act and is pursuing additional condemnation proceedings.

“The Governor and I are grateful to the majority of property owners who voluntarily provided their easements because they recognize that this is the right thing to do for their neighbors and their communities,” Martin said.

"The way we got this project done was local community effort, a full effort from Toms River as a municipality, and the state DEP," Jeffrey said. "This is an example of how you get things done when the community and all levels of government work together."

Jeffrey said Martin told him that the grassroots effort to get easements signed was critical to getting the project moving forward.

"He told me 'If you guys had not gotten the local effort underway to get the easements signed we never would have gotten this done,' " Jeffrey said.

It is not clear where along the barrier peninsula work will begin. Seaside Heights has met with the DEP to try to ensure work in the borough does not disrupt the summer tourist season. Jeffrey said he has been assured the Ortley Beach area would be stressed as one of the areas most critically in need.

The project area will be eligible to receive periodic nourishment over the course of 50 years to replace sand lost through erosion. In addition, the contract includes the construction of dune crossovers, placement of sand fencing, and dune grass plantings, the Army Corps said.

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.

The Army Corps expects to issue a Notice to Proceed for construction to Weeks Marine Inc. sometime in the next month with physical construction expected to begin by spring of 2017. The construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

The Army Corps will closely coordinate with the NJDEP and Weeks Marine on the construction schedule and will post updates to its project web site when further information is available. During construction, communities can expect the construction crews to close no more than 1000 feet of beach as work progresses along the island, (closed sections are "rolling" and advance as the beachfill progresses along the island).

Ortley Beach, preparing for a storm in 2016. Karen Wall photo