PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District awarded a contract Sept. 11 to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company of Oak Brook, Ill. for $7.5 million to complete periodic nourishment of the Townsend’s Inlet to Cape May Inlet (Avalon and Stone Harbor) Coastal Storm Risk Management project.
According to a release, the project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the communities of Avalon and Stone Harbor.
The contract calls for dredging approximately 425,000 cubic yards of sand from Townsend’s Inlet. The sand will be pumped onto the beach from the Townsend’s Inlet south jetty area to approximately 19th Street in Avalon.
The sand is then built into an engineered template, which is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events. The contract includes options for dredging and placing additional sand.
The contract also includes options to harvest sand in Stone Harbor. Sand harvesting involves using sand that has accumulated within the dune system above the federal template to nourish the berm in front of the dune.
USACE will conduct surveys of the beach before deciding whether to exercise the contract options to harvest sand.
Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is expected to begin dredging and beachfill operations in the fall of 2019. The contract is cost-shared between the federal government (65 percent of costs funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and non-federal entities (35 percent of costs funded by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the municipalities).
