By Lauren Wanko
Contractors with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working around the clock in Brant Beach on a beach replenishment project. Their goal is to protect infrastructure and homes from coastal storms and hurricanes.
“What we try to do is build a wider beach with large dunes. The dunes are the protective feature,” says Keith Watson, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
This particular project stretches just over a mile long. More than a million cubic yards of sand will be pumped up from the ocean floor and placed on the beach. The price tag? $16 million.
It’s the third site to undergo a beach replenishment project at Long Beach Island and the 11th in South Jersey since the 1990s. According to Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini, the funding breaks down like this:
- 66 percent from Congress
- 25 percent from the state
- 4.5 percent from Ocean County
- 4.5 percent from the local municipality
The mayor says the majority of residents have accommodated the beach work being done. Four hundred sixty homes line the township’s 11 miles of beachfront property. So far, the township has received 200 easements, but not every homeowner agrees with the project.
Some homeowners argue the dunes will obstruct their views and diminish their property values. But Watson says the replenishment projects are imperative throughout the state and on Long Beach Island.
Construction in Brant Beach is expected to be completed by mid June. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to come back in the winter to plant dune grass.
WATCH VIDEO: