Stone Harbor kicks off its beach project

Written by Bill Barlow Thursday, June 09, 2011 07:39 am

Beaches will be closed a couple of blocks at a time as a beach project pumps sand onto storm-damaged Stone Harbor beaches. The total cost for the project is expected to top $5 million, mostly funded by the Army Corps of Engineers.

STONE HARBOR – Officials at the local, state and federal level gathered at a gazebo at 101st Street Friday to announce the start of a multimillion-dollar beach replenishment project, which will add sand from 123rd Street to 80th street.

The dredge has recently completed adding sand to Avalon beaches, and the two projects were combined to reduce start-up costs.

According to borough officials, the project will work its way north two blocks at a time, pumping 580,000 cubic yards of sand from an offshore dredge over more than four miles of beach. The project is also set to include more than two miles of new seawall and restoration of natural habitat at Stone Harbor Point.

The total cost of the project is $5 million, but because much of the project is repairing storm damage, the federal government is paying most of that, along with a state contribution from the Department of Environmental Protection. Stone Harbor is paying a total of $121,000 for its share of the project, according to Mayor Suzanne Walters.

“This is an example of government cooperation at its very best,” Walters said. “The federal, state and local governments have worked together on this effort to provide a protective and recreational beach for Stone Harbor for the summer season.”

She said the work will protect more than $4 billion worth of real estate in Stone Harbor from future storms.

According to Walters, some property owners weren’t happy that the work continued through the Memorial Day weekend, but she said once the project starts, the work continues 24 hours a day.

“They can’t just take a weekend off,” she said.

The beaches a few blocks around the project area will be closed, but will open again as the work moves north, according to officials.

Sandy Slabik, a resident and the president of the taxpayer group Stone Harbor Realty Owners Association, asked for details of how owners can get updates on the work, and which beaches are closed. She was directed to Channel 2 and the borough radio station at 1670 AM. She asked where those out of the area could go, and borough officials said they would try to post updates at the borough website, www.stone-harbor.nj.us.

As of this week, there was an update on the project posted on the site, indicating that the beaches from 101st Street to 105th Street were closed.

The work is being completed by Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Illinois, under a contract with the Army Corps of Engineers. The state Department of Environmental Protection is the nonfederal sponsor of the project.

The press conference drew print reporters from most of the papers in the county, and representatives of several television stations. Toward the end, there was also a line of children and their families at the street end stairway, waiting to get by to hit the sunny beach.

Keith Watson with the Army Corps of Engineers discusses the scope of the work.

Lifeguards keep an eye on the few young bathers to brave the chilly water on Friday. Nearby, heavy equipment works on a beach building project, but most beaches will remain open through the work.