Avalon Uses Drone to Record Beach Fill

AVALON – High-definition TV screens in the Avalon municipal courtroom were put to use March 8 to give Borough Council a panoramic view of the beach front before the start of the federally-sponsored beach replenishment project. 
The room, which doubles as the council meeting chamber, had a light turnout of residents for the council work session.
James Nanos, the owner of southjerseydrone.com, based in Rio Grande, previewed video footage of Avalon’s beach over its entire span of the upcoming beach fill.
Using a drone at 400 feet, which he managed while walking the beach below, Nanos was able to show the beach as it is.
The plan which Business Manager Scott Wahl said originated with Mayor Martin Pagliughi, is to record the video footage, at consistent tide levels, before, during and after the beach fill project.
The video will be available to residents through YouTube and a link on the borough website.
The preview showed exposed rocks and narrow, almost non-existent, beach area in the north end of the island.
This effort will mark a first in the county using drone technology for video of a beach replenishment project.
Pagliughi, also the county’s Office of Emergency Management coordinator, has attended sessions that focused on drone (unmanned aerial system) use after storms and how drones can be used as tools to assist recovery workers and others.
Wahl also updated council on the project. He noted that the Stone Harbor portion of the effort is complete. The dredge is undergoing some brief maintenance before beginning Avalon’s replenishment. When complete, Avalon will have one of its largest ever beach fills with the contractor expected to pump 940,000 cubic yards of sand onto borough beaches.
The sheer size of the effort will mean a project that should run 37 contiguous days moving from the south to the north. 
Wahl assured the council that the project would be completed by Memorial Day weekend.
The Army Corps of Engineers has formally asked the dredge contractor for a proposal for additional 320,000 cubic yards of sand to be placed on the north–end beaches in Stone Harbor.
Avalon would benefit from some of that sand being directed to the hotel district beachfront from 76th to 80th streets.
Due to a continued dispute with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the use of federal funds to remove sand from Hereford Inlet, the Army Corps, and state Department of Environmental Protection worked together to expand the sand borrow area in Townsend’s Inlet. 
The sand for the south end will be pumped through submerged pipe running the length of the borough’s beachfront.
Avalon continues its legal challenge to Fish and Wildlife’s application of the Coastal Barriers Resources Act to the issue of sand removal from Hereford Inlet.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.