PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Cape May, announced Thursday that the next cycle of beach nourishment for the Cape May Inlet to Lower Township Storm Damage Reduction Project is projected to start the last week of November or the first week of December.
The project, first constructed in 1991, was designed to include periodic nourishment at two-year intervals over 50 years. The Corps completed the most recent (7th) cycle in February 2007 at a cost of $5 million. Most of the 190,000 cubic yards of sand was placed on the beachfront within the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, with a lesser amount in the vicinity of Wilmington Ave.
For this 8th cycle, the Corps has awarded a $2.3 million construction contract to Fullard Environmental Controls of Ford City, Pa. This award resulted from a re-solicitation of the project when the original bids from dredging companies exceeded the funds available.
The project has been scaled back and will be done by truck in lieu of offshore dredging equipment. About 120,000 cubic yards of sand will be trucked from the Albrecht & Huen quarry in Court House to the USCG Training Center, which will serve as a “feeder beach” as sand naturally migrates to the “downdraft beaches” of Cape May.
This same feeder beach concept would have been used on a dredging-based contract, according to the Army Corps.
The trucks will use only state and county roads and will run 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The actual haul route will follow the Garden State Parkway south to Lafayette St. left on Sidney Ave., left on Washington St., right on Texas Ave., right fork on Pittsburgh Ave., and left on Delaware Ave. into the training center. The trucks will run for about 6 to 8 weeks, perhaps longer in the event of weather delays.
The project was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. The Coast Guard per a 1988 memorandum of agreement pays approximately one third of the total cost. Of the remaining two thirds, 10 percent is contributed by the non-federal sponsor, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the balance by the Corps.
The City of Cape May has also contributed to the project through a series of state aid agreements with NJDEP.
Wildwood Crest – As a second homeowner I must write checks and get next to nothing in return. I’m ok with that, I get it. What I can’t take is illiterate WWC spouters complaining about out of state tags being in “…
