AVALON — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has brought 68,000 tons of sand to beaches here between 9th and 18th streets since it began a replenishment project April 15.
With an average rate of 5,000 tons of sand every day it’s expected that 140,000 tons will be delivered by June 4, Engineer Thomas Thornton of Hatch, Mott, MacDonald said in a report he provided council May 6.
Despite frequent rain, Thornton said little sand has been lost from the project area.
As the federal project comes to a close, the borough went out to bid today, May 7, for its own beach rejuvenation project to pile 80,000 more tons of sand on the north end, making a 60 percent increase on top of the Army Corps project.
Nine bids were received for the project; the highest bid came in just above $1 million and the low bid was $739,600 from Albrecht and Heun. It’s likely Borough Council will award a contract for the second phase of the beach project at its meeting May 13.
The borough project is slated to begin June 5 and to bring 50,000 tons of sand to 10th, 12th and 15th streets by June 18. The borough would then have completed 86 percent of both projects’ combined potential of 220,000 tons, Thornton said. The borough is not scheduling work on weekends.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.
