USA: Avalon Gets 302,000 Cubic Yards of New Sand

The first phase of a major beach nour­ish­ment project in Avalon and Stone Har­bor has been com­pleted.

The beach fill project in Avalon was com­pleted Tues­day, Jan­u­ary 29th at 4:30am; a larger project on the Stone Har­bor beach­front is sched­uled to begin on or about April 12th, 2013. A final walk­through inspec­tion of the Avalon por­tion of the project will be con­ducted on Feb­ru­ary 1st.

“We are very pleased with the qual­ity of work con­ducted dur­ing the Avalon phase of this impor­tant project”, Avalon Mayor Mar­tin Pagli­ughi said. “The Bor­ough now has both a pro­tec­tive and recre­ational beach­front for the remain­der of the win­ter storm sea­son and for the upcom­ing spring and sum­mer tourism season”.

This beach fill project was autho­rized by the United States Army Corps of Engi­neers and the New Jer­sey Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion with part­ner­ship from both Bor­oughs, as well as Nor­folk Dredg­ing Com­pany of Nor­folk, Vir­ginia. The dredge “Charleston” pumped 302,000 cubic yards of sand from a bor­row area in Townsend’s Inlet onto the Avalon beach­front from the 8th Street jetty down to the 25th Street beach. The dredge is en route to a project in Fire Island, New York and will return to Stone Har­bor dur­ing the sec­ond week of April to pump 420,000 cubic yards of sand onto the Stone Har­bor beach­front. The sec­ond phase of this project is sched­uled to con­clude prior to the Memo­r­ial Day weekend.

This beach fill project on the Seven Mile Beach replaces a pro­tec­tive beach that was dam­aged dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Irene in August, 2011 and by Hur­ri­cane Sandy in Octo­ber, 2012. Both com­mu­ni­ties were spared sig­nif­i­cant dam­age dur­ing Hur­ri­cane Sandy thanks in part to its exten­sive work on its engi­neered beach and dune man­age­ment sys­tem. Avalon com­pleted its very first beach fill project fol­low­ing Hur­ri­cane Glo­ria in 1987.

“Every sin­gle job on the Seven Mile Beach is a direct result of sand being on the beach­front”, Mayor Pagli­ughi said. “The beach not only pro­vides from coastal storms, but also is the eco­nomic engine for Avalon and the rest of the county. Beach fill projects are invest­ments that pay huge div­i­dends to the entire State of New Jersey”.

Norfolk’s dredge “Charleston” is expected to return to Stone Har­bor dur­ing the sec­ond week of April. Approx­i­mately 420,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed from 92nd Street south to 114th Street, and from 119th Street south to the ter­mi­nal groin. The Stone Har­bor beach fill project is sched­uled to be com­pleted before Memo­r­ial Day week­end, 2013. Var­i­ous dune, crossover, dune grass, and sand fence work is also part of the Seven Mile Beach nour­ish­ment project.

“This project assures that our res­i­dents and vis­i­tors will have a spa­cious beach­front to enjoy for the upcom­ing sum­mer sea­son”, Stone Har­bor Mayor Suzanne Wal­ters said. “Stone Harbor’s rental prop­er­ties and busi­ness dis­trict are already in great shape for the spring and sum­mer sea­son. This beach fill project ensures another tremen­dous vaca­tion expe­ri­ence on the Seven Mile Beach in 2013”.

[mappress]

Press Release, February 1, 2013