Summer Beach Project Adds Sand in OC

OCEAN CITY – At the north end of Ocean City’s Boardwalk, a small crowd gathered July 17 in the shadow of the Ocean City Beach Patrol headquarters to watch a beach be built.
Federal beach replenishment projects have become routine in the city since the first one, in the 1990s, which drew far larger crowds to watch the then-unusual project progress.
A large ocean-going dredge pumps water and sand from the shoals of the nearby inlet onto the beach, where crews use heavy equipment to shape a beach.
Before that first project, high tides slipped under the boardwalk daily, with little beach in the city’s downtown.
Under a 50-year commitment, as part of that first project, the Army Corps of Engineers returned with a contracted dredging company several times to rebuild the beaches as they erode. The projects usually take place in the winter. This year’s project was set for spring, but repairs to the dredge delayed the start of the project until this month.
No one is happy about the work taking place during an already difficult summer, Mayor Jay Gillian told Ocean City Council, business leaders and others leading up to the work, but the city can’t pass up the needed project, worth millions of dollars.
“We need it,” he told the council during a June meeting, held remotely. “We’ve gotten some emails about why do we do it in the summertime. We do it whenever we can when somebody’s paying about 90% of it.”
The dredge, owned by contractor Great Lakes Dredge, is now just outside the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, with steel pipes running along the beach. Orange netting and dune fencing blocks access to the project area, while piled sand allows beachgoers to cross the thick metal pipes through which the sand and water flow.
According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the latest phase of the project will add sand from Morningside Road south to 13th Street, and then sand will be added between Morningside and Seaview roads.
The project area closes about 1,000 feet of beach at a time, with access preserved north and south of the project area.
The city has not heard any complaints about the work so far, said Ocean City spokesman Doug Bergen in a recent interview. He said the erosion in the project area is obvious so most visitors and residents can see the need for the work.
The project has not reached the busiest beaches along the Boardwalk, where hotels and businesses already report a difficult summer due to the pandemic. In other years, some visitors complained about the noise and disruption of the project on their block.
Just past the heavy equipment moving sand on the beach, lifeguards were on duty, and families played in the waves on an overcast morning.
According to the Army Corps’ posted timeline, the project will be completed by August. This is the ninth project pumping sand onto city beaches since the first one started, in October 1992. 
The city has been emailing regular updates on the project for those who have signed up, including which beaches will be closed and how far the beach building progressed. According to the most recent update, the project will add 1.6 million cubic yards of sand to more than two miles of city beaches.
“The contractor also will stockpile sand so the city can rebuild areas of dune to create an uninterrupted line across the length of the project area,” reads a statement posted at ocnj.us/projectUpdate.
Beach replenishments for Strathmere and Sea Isle City were also completed, as part of the first phase of this project.
The total cost for this portion of the work is estimated at $16 million, with the cost divided between the federal government and the state, with the city contributing to the state’s costs. The city will be responsible for 12.5% of the total cost.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.