Beach Fill Project Extended 10 Blocks in Avalon

AVALON – An extra 10 blocks of Avalon beachfront will receive sand in the 2023 federal beach replenishment project.
The news came at a meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where it was also confirmed that all four options in the replenishment bid are being exercised by the Army Corps, more than doubling the amount of sand the borough would have received under the base bid.
The amount of sand available now that the options are being exercised moves from 231,000 cubic yards to almost 600,000 cubic yards. That additional sand will extend the areas benefiting from the new sand from 9th Street south to approximately 27th or 28th streets.
At an April 12 meeting of Avalon Council, Business Administrator Scott Wahl said the extra sand comes at “no additional costs to the borough.”
Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi called the replenishment an example of how “projects involving federal, state, and municipal partners should work.”
Pagliughi, who also heads the Cape May County Office of Emergency Management, added that the project “will result in a protective beach and dune system in advance of the Atlantic hurricane season.”
Sand for the beach fill will be mined from Townsend’s Inlet with a pipe landing area at 12th Street. The work, which is expected to commence within days, will run 24 hours per day, seven days per week, barring equipment problems or weather interruptions. Beach areas will be closed in 1,000-foot intervals where sand is being placed.
Dunes will be repaired in some areas; however, the Army Corps’ website notes that “most of the work includes widening the beach from the toe of the dune to the water line.”
The project is especially welcome this year since winter storm events have severely eroded the borough’s north end beaches. In Stone Harbor, this beach federal hydraulic beach fill is the first since 2017.
When Avalon’s beach fill is complete, a similar project will commence on Stone Harbor beaches. That project will involve the use of additional equipment since the sand for Stone Harbor must also come from Townsend’s Inlet due to a set of U.S. Fish and Wildlife restrictions on the use of Hereford Inlet sand for replenishments.
A set of issues required a later start in Avalon than was originally projected. While the Avalon portion of the beach fill will still be completed prior to Memorial Day, the project in Stone Harbor will push into the post-Memorial Day summer season.
The project is a cost-share effort between the federal government, the State of New Jersey, and the impacted municipalities. 
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.