CREST HAVEN – Ocean Drive is, as its name states, controlled by the sea. When storms rage, waves crash into the stone seawall on Avalon’s northern end and wash over the road. Superstorm Sandy whipped waves that not only went over, but had enough force to get under the roadbed, and lifted asphalt in places.
Because of that, the road was closed, and traffic and lives were disrupted as temporary repairs were made.
All that will change, it is expected, when the $9-million project described to freeholders by County Engineer Dale Foster Aug. 11 is done. Termed a permanent fix, the 1,500-foot-long project, generally where the bulkhead is located, thick, tar-coated sheet steel will be driven down 25 feet on the ocean side and 15 feet on the marsh side. Between those steel plates, the road surface will be reinforced concrete slabs of nine-inch thickness. That will rest over a six-inch thick base of Portland cement over geotextile.
“Asphalt cracks and allows water to seep in, and slowly pulled (the surface) away,” said Foster. The proposed concrete will not break as asphalt did, he added.
On the Atlantic side, the existing stone seawall will be backed by filter stone rip-rap. On the marsh side, rip-rap stone will allow the sea water to drain out instead of remaining under the roadway and lifting the surface upward.
The seawall, often battered by the sea, will also be repaired during the project.
Foster said he met with Sea Isle City and Avalon officials to discuss the multi-year project. As much as possible, the project will allow traffic to flow, although it will likely be one-lane at times.
Shorebird restrictions limit the months when the project can take place, Foster said. That means work must stop after March 15.
Citing the short window for the project to begin, Foster said it is hoped that the project can go to bidders in early September. If a contract is awarded, the contractor can begin on-site in late October and labor through the winter until March 15. Once seasons shift past mid-December Foster noted “lousy weather” may hamper progress.
Two seasons are projected for the project, with “only a short window where the road has to be closed completely to traffic.”
“$9 million sounds like a lot of money,” Director Gerald Thornton said.
Acknowledging it is costly, Foster pointed north to Route 35 in Monmouth County that cost “over $35 million a mile to reconstruct.”
“Mantoloking, (Ocean County) we know about that,” Thornton replied.
