AVALON – Borough Engineer Thomas Thornton, Dec. 18, outlined an approach to the time-consuming permitting of backpassing projects, which he hopes gains approval from state and federal officials.
Backpassing has become a common operation for the temporary restoration of eroded beaches in years when no federal replenishment effort is scheduled.
Avalon was a pioneer in the use of the process, which involves scraping sand from approved borrow areas and transporting it to eroded beaches, usually in Avalon’s north end.
Rather than going through emergency approvals after storm events, and following the backpassing operation with all of the permit application activities, often for a project already completed, Thornton is proposing a multiyear permit that sets a maximum depth for scraping sand from an approved borrow area and a maximum level for the replenishment of eroded areas.
Thornton believes the proposed process would streamline backpassing efforts.
