STRATHMERE – Upper Township beaches in Strathmere that have been eroding since the last beach fill in 2019 should be in good condition by the end of the summer, but not before.
Upper Township Engineer Paul Dietrich said the northernmost township beaches have taken the worst beating from coastal storms, including the 2022 Mother’s Day nor’easter felt along the Jersey shoreline. However, Dietrich said the beachfront started to change soon after the 2019 beach fill through the 2022 storm season.
“It’s a continuous thing. (The shoreline) is a living, breathing place and it changes daily,” Dietrich said.
According to Dietrich, normal day-to-day erosion coupled with the major erosion caused by storm events have resulted in the loss of the northernmost beach accesses: Seaview, Seacliff, Winthrop, and Williams.
The Seacliff and Winthrop accesses were taken out in 2022 and the Williams Avenue access was closed about one month ago, Dietrich said.
He said part of the reason for the pattern of erosion along Stathmere beaches is an effect that occurs in Corson Inlet.
Dietrich said the state park area at the south end of Ocean City has been growing as sand is deposited, creating ebb shoals, which results in a kind of secondary channel that bends in at a southeasterly direction running parallel to the beach.
Dietrich said Corson Inlet State Park continues to move into the inlet and is partly within Upper Township now. As the inlet is marching southward, the current “bites into” Strathmere, Dietrich said.
“When it does that, it erodes the sand much faster,” Dietrich said, adding that the beaches lose sand with each incoming and outgoing tide.
“Sand erodes at a normal pace and then storms cause it to erode faster,” he said.
The township generally installs beach fences – sometimes one, sometimes two – to catch and help grow the dunes. He said the fences help capture the sand and keep it near the beaches.
The township will be part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsend’s Inlet shore protection project.
According to the USACE website, this project was authorized in 2007 but did not receive funding until 2013 after Congress enacted what is referred to as the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill.
On Nov. 10, 2014, the USACE awarded a $57.6 million contract to the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company to complete the coastal storm damage reduction project, which includes the construction of a dune and a berm, or beach, in front of each community. The initial construction project was completed in spring 2016. The project is eligible for periodic nourishment on a five-year cycle if funding is available.
Dietrich said the northern crossovers were closed because there were 8 to 12-foot cliffs, which was a public safety concern. He said Williams Avenue had been graded down to 2 or 3 feet.
He said the project in Strathmere would go out to bid in April, with the contract awarded in June, and construction would begin in late July or August.
The cost for the 1.3 miles of Upper Township beaches will be about $1 million, with the township paying 25% of the state’s share which is 75% of the cost.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
