Great Lakes Awarded Contract for NJ Coastal Storm Risk Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District awarded a $32.5 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company to complete periodic nourishment of two Coastal Storm Risk Management projects in Cape May County, New Jersey. The contract includes dredging more than 2.4 million cubic yards of sand and placing on the beaches in Ocean City (1,255,000 cubic yards), Strathmere (410,000 cubic yards), and Sea Isle City (760,000 cubic yards).
Most of the work will be to widen the beach with the sand graded into an engineered template, designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events. However, in some areas, dunes, beach access points and sand fencing will be repaired. Depending on surveys and the condition of the beaches, there are contract options to place additional sand, which would increase the contract amount by about $8.8 million.
The Great Egg Harbor and Peck Beach project extends from Surf Road to 34th Street in Ocean City. It includes an elevated berm and was first built in 1992. The project has been periodically nourished over the years resulting in a wider beach. Periodic nourishment is cost-shared 65 percent federal and 35 percent non-federal.
The Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsends Inlet project extends from 34th Street in Ocean City to Townsends Inlet and includes southern Ocean City, Strathmere in Upper Township, and Sea Isle City. Initial construction of the project was completed in 2016. Work in the southern end of Ocean City, from 34th Street to Corson’s Inlet State Park, includes a federally constructed dune at elevation +12.8, with a width at the top of 25 feet, and a berm or beach extending 100 feet from the seaward base of the dune. On Ludlum Island, which includes Strathmere and Sea Isle, the federally constructed dune is built to elevation +14.8 and the berm is 50 feet wide. Periodic nourishment is cost-shared 50 percent federal and 50 percent non-federal.
The projects are joint efforts of the Corps, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the municipalities.
