MONMOUTH BEACH, N.J. – Crews are busy placing millions of cubic yards along the Atlantic coast of northern New Jersey as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District’s efforts to repair and restore the Sea Bright to Manasquan beach erosion control and coastal storm risk reduction project. The work is being done to repair and restore the beach project after it was severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
The project includes several towns along approximately 18 miles of coastline and is being repaired through four separate contracts. It will involve the placement of more than eight million cubic yards of sand to replace the roughly five million cubic yard. Crews are currently placing roughly 2.5 million cubic yards of sand in Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright through the first emergency beach replenishment contract.
“The Army Corps of Engineers is pleased to be carrying out this emergency beach repair and restoration work which will mitigate the impacts of future storms" said New York District Commander Col. Paul E. Owen. “This work in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach is the first part of a larger project that will restore beaches from Sea Bright to Manasquan. In addition to providing beach erosion control this work also helps the region heal from the impacts of Hurricane Sandy by restoring an important and central element to these coastal communities.”
The subsequent three contracts will cover Belmar to Manasquan, Long Branch, and Asbury Park to Avon. Once all four contracts are completed, the Corps will have placed more than eight million cubic yards of sand in the project area and restored the Sea Bright to Manasquan project to its original design profile.
The Sea Bright to Manasquan beach erosion control and storm risk reduction project was first constructed in the 1990s and completed in 2001 in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The project provides coastal storm risk reduction to highly populated communities and infrastructure located along the New Jersey shoreline. Protection is provided through the construction of a 100-foot wide beach berm at an elevation of 10 feet above mean low water (MLW) or 7.3 feet above North Atlantic Vertical Datum (NAVD). A wide, flat beach berm with a sufficient volume of sand can help keep the erosive power of the waves from reaching and destroying any set back protective elements and other structures and can reduce damages significantly from waves, inundation, and erosion.
The original Sea Bright to Manasquan construction involved the placement of roughly 20 million cubic yards of sand and has helped reduce risks to coastal communities from storms and wave action over the years since its completion. The current Sea Bright to Manasquan repair and restore efforts are being funded through the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, also referred to as the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill or Public Law 113-2.
Work on all four Sea Bright to Manasquan contracts is expected to be complete in 2014.