Ortley's First: Army Corps Dune Project Will Begin In Toms River, DEP Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Residents of Ortley Beach — the last to go home after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Jersey Shore 4-1/2 years ago — have gotten their wish: their beachfront is first on the list for the long-awaited dune project.

Project contractor Weeks Marine will 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, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced Friday.

“We are very excited by the upcoming start of both the northern Ocean County project and the Absecon Island project in Atlantic County,” Martin said. “We are particularly pleased that work is beginning in Ortley Beach, which sustained such extensive property damage because it did not have a properly engineered beach and dune system when Superstorm Sandy struck."

Ortley Beach was ground zero during Sandy, with hundreds of homes and businesses and even Route 35 severely damaged, destroyed and even washed away. While bayfront residents and residents of other parts of the Northern Ocean County barrier peninsula were able to get into their homes almost immediately, Ortley Beach residents and homeowners could only look at photos to get some idea of the devastation wreaked when the hurricane-force winds drove the ocean through their portion of the island. It was more than two weeks before they could see the devastation in person. Many still have yet to return home.

Ortley Beach residents also have been among the most vocal in calling for work to be done, as each nor'easter and strong storm over the last five winters has brought fears of ocean waves flooding homes and undoing the area's recovery.

Ortley Beach will receive approximately 267,000 cubic yards of sand, Martin said, creating an approximately 225-foot-wide beach over the course of two weeks next month. Weeks Marine will 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.

Toms River Township, with assistance from the state, has spent more than $2 million in the last 4-1/2 years bolstering its beaches, primarily in Ortley Beach, against threatening storms.

“Today’s announcement by the DEP is welcome news to the residents and businesses in Toms River that they will be protected from future storms,” Toms River Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher said. “On numerous occasions the township has had to bring in extra sand following major nor’easters. I am very gratified that the DEP recognizes the dire condition of the dunes in Ortley Beach and will accelerate the restoration of sand on a temporary basis until the full project can be completed. We thank the DEP and Commissioner Martin for their support to our town.”

Weeks Marine was recently awarded contracts for both the Absecon Island and northern Ocean County storm damage reduction projects, with scheduling based on the availability of dredges, the DEP said. The Cranford-based company will utilize multiple-suction hopper dredges, which are ships that pull up large volumes of sand from offshore before maneuvering closer to the beach for pumping onto beaches. They will also use a cutter-head dredge, which is a large barge that sits offshore and pumps sand continuously onto the beach by way of a pipeline.

Weeks will work in 1,000-foot-wide sections of beaches at a time to minimize impacts to residents and visitors. The northern Ocean County project entails 11 million cubic yards of sand covering some 14 miles of coastline along the Barnegat Peninsula, protecting the communities of Point Pleasant Beach, Bay Head, Mantoloking, Brick, Toms River, Lavallette, Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Berkeley Township.

For most of this project area, dunes will be built 22 feet above mean sea level. Beaches will be constructed from 100 feet to 300 feet wide and 8.5 feet above mean sea level. The project area will receive periodic replenishment projects over the course of 50 years to replace sand lost through normal erosion. Engineered beaches and dunes absorb and block the impacts of storm surge while helping to protect lives, property and infrastructure, the DEP said.

The federal government will pay 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. New Jersey will pay for 35 percent of the project from the state’s Shore Protection Fund.

The tentative schedule for the northern Ocean County project is as follows:

• Ortley Beach (Initial beachfill): Mid-April 2017 through late April 2017
• Mantoloking: Early July 2017 through September 2017
• Seaside Heights: Late September 2017 through October 2017
• Seaside Park: Late October 2017 through late December 2017
• Ortley Beach (Completion): Mid-October 2017 to mid-December 2017
• Brick: Winter 2018
• Normandy Beach (Toms River): Winter 2018
• Lavallette: Spring 2018

The schedules for Bay Head, Point Pleasant Beach and Berkeley Township will be determined as necessary outstanding easements are obtained, officials said.

Photo via New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection