AVALON – After several successful back passing projects completed in-house by the borough’s Public Works Department, Avalon will seek a contractor this year to move sand to eroded north-end beaches.
Business Administrator Scott Wahl told Avalon Borough Council March 9 that supply chain problems with repair parts for the needed heavy equipment have forced the municipality to change its plans.
“The heavy equipment we normally rent for the back passing is just not available,” Wahl said.
There is a scheduled federal hydraulic replenishment effort planned for late 2022 or early 2023. Wahl said the borough would probably not need a back passing effort in 2023 because of that replenishment effort.
Wave action and currents regularly take sand from the north end of the borough and deposit it in a borrow area near 35th Street. Previous back passing efforts have had Public Works crews shave sand off the wet sand portion of the borrow area and use leased trucks to move the sand along the beachfront to the eroded areas.
