PETERSBURG – Upper Township Committee authorized $1,337,500 for the township’s portion of the Great Egg Harbor Inlet to Townsend’s Inlet beach fill project.
The funds are part of New Jersey’s Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project and Groin Removal.
“This is our beach refill,” Township Administrator Gary DeMarzo said. “This is our portion of the payment.”
The township entered into a 50-year partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in June 2014. The purpose of this project was, first, to investigate hurricane and coastal storm damage effects with a view toward reducing impacts from coastal erosion and storms. Construction, according to the Army Corps website, is scheduled to begin this year. DeMarzo said the committee’s action at the Sept. 11 meeting authorizing the payment of the township’s share was to get the bidding process going.
“We will advertise the bids, review the bids, award contracts, and then the work will start,” he said.
After the beach fill, the state Department of Environmental Protection, which also has oversight of the project, will reevaluate the Upper Township beaches and do more beach fill when necessary.
Also part of the project is to remove an old groin that has deteriorated. Groins, or groynes, are structures in the water that are meant to be a barrier to wave action and reduce beach erosion. DeMarzo said the groin that is being removed consists of old timbers or pilings that will be removed. The pilings stick out of the ground and are considered a hazard in the waterway. DeMarzo said the township’s share of the project was expected to be $150,000.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.