Avalon conditions worse than expected; Stone Harbor beach fill comes just in time
Nov, 18-2009 9:18 pm
By MARY LINEHAN
Correspondent
SEVEN MILE ISLAND – Stone Harbor’s long-scheduled beach replenishment project is back on track after last week’s northeast storm, rescheduled to begin today (Thursday, Nov. 19).
Borough officials said that sand pumping is scheduled to begin and have warned people in the area that access to the Point is closed until further notice. The pumping will take place from 98th to 111th Streets and beaches will be closed in 1,000-foot increments.
The Stone Harbor beach fill is part four of a local project that began last summer in Strathmere and is slated to finish up here over the next 10 days to two weeks, weather permitting.
The DEP bundled four local beach fill projects to maximize savings for several local communities. Contractors finished pumping some 891,000 cubic yard of sand onto Strathmere beaches this past summer; moved some 400,000 cubic yards of sand back onto Sea Isle City beaches; and have already finished the largest part of the project, replacing nearly one million cubic yards of sand on North Wildwood beaches. All those projects were severely damaged by last week’s storm.
The Stone Harbor project was scheduled to move less than 250,000 cubic yards when planned.Great Lakes Dredging Company is the contractor.
This beach replenishment project will replace sand lost in various storms. The state will pick up 75 percent of the cost and the borough will pay the remaining 25 percent. Present estimates project the overall costs at $2,547,750. Stone Harbor’s share is $636,937.
The beach replenishment project is, essentially, intended to fill the gap between federal beach nourishment projects. “Stone Harbor is overdue for federal renourishment,” said Bill Dixon, also of the N.J. DEP. “This is an interim project so the beaches remain stable until federal funds are appropriated for a complete renourishment.”
The project did not account for beach erosion as a result of last week’s storm, which resulted in the Governor’s proclamation of a state of emergency in six coastal counties – including Cape May County.
“Our damage was above and beyond what we anticipated,” said Scott Wahl, public information officer for Avalon. “I don’t have numbers yet, but they will be significant.”
Officials from FEMA have been in county since Tuesday. FEMA reported that several hundred homes and between 50 and 100 businesses were affected by the storm.
The federal emergency agency began gathering information for its preliminary damage analysis on Tuesday.
Mary Linehan can be e-mailed at gazette@catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
