Belmar to Manasquan Beach Replenishment Bids Coming Soon

 By Christopher Sheldon

A bid for work on Long Branch's portion of the Army Corps of Engineers beach replenishment project is slated to be awarded in mid-August, Army Corps of Engineers New York District Commander Col. Paul E. Owen said during a press conference with Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6) in Monmouth Beach.

Work on the Monmouth Beach to Sea Bright portion of the project has already begun and will likely be completed in about 80 days, or about the middle of October, Owen said.

The other contracts include the contract for the Asbury to Avon portion, which will be awarded in early September, and Belmar to Manasquan, which will be awarded this week.

"We're thinking around this time next year, maybe into August, is when we'll be able to have the whole 18-mile stretch, which does not include the three miles from Loch Arbour to Elberon, done," Owen said.

Owen said the Loch Arbour to Elberon section has been authorized but that there are "still some issues to work out with local communities."

"We're hopeful we can get those worked out and continue to provide a continuous 21-mile stretch of protection and risk reduction for this part of the Jersey Shore," Owen said.

Pallone said the Elberon to Loch Arbour section would begin at Takanassee Lake and end at Deal Lake and said that stretch of beach has never been replenished "because local officials were not interested."

"But in the aftermath of this storm and because of the damage and also probably because it's 100 percent federally funded, they decided they do want to do it, so we're in the process of basically doing some design work and getting the easements together for that," Pallone said. "We suspect we will be able to do that next year."

Owens said the amount of sand removed by Sandy from Sea Bright to Manasquan in 5 million cubic yards.

"We're going to put back 8 million cubic yards of sand, so we'll have 3 million more than what was removed from Sandy," Owens said. "That's going to allow us to get us to this restore component that matches to pre-storm conditions."

The Sea Bright to Manasquan project is the largest beach nourishment project ever undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers and the world’s biggest beach-fill project, in terms of sand volume, according to Pallone. The $100 million project is being funded by the Hurricane Sandy aid package passed by Congress earlier this year.