CAPE MAY – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ awarded $7.6 million to complete recurring nourishment of the Cape May Inlet to Lower Township (Cape May City) Coastal Storm Risk Management project.
According to a release, this project is made possible by Army Corps’ Philadelphia District, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The Cape May Inlet to Lower Township beach fill project ranges from the southwest jetty of Cape May Inlet to Third Avenue in Cape May.
This site includes the communities of Cape May and Lower Township, as well as the Coast Guard Training Center in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District.
The project calls for dredging around 240,000 cubic yards of sand from a borrow area approximately 2.6 miles south of the Cape May Inlet jetties to be pumped onto the beach at two locations.
The sand is then added into the engineered template, whose design reduces damages from coastal storm events that South Jersey has faced.
“This award is essential for our coastal economy and communities in South Jersey,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-2nd) stated. “Prevention and protection is key to their success. Along with this inlet project, I’ve also supported several resiliency projects throughout some of our most vulnerable coastal communities including Avalon, Atlantic City, Stone Harbor, Sea Isle City, Strathmere, and Ocean City. There is so much work that still needs to be done, and the Cape May Inlet to Lower Township beach fill project is a wonderful addition to that.”
South Jersey’s coastal tourism industry is one of the largest in the country, and this renourishment contract will be essential in boosting the coastal economy.
The South Jersey community has struggled to rebuild since Hurricane Sandy, and coastal protection projects like this one will be key in helping the community rebuild.
