LBI Beach replenishment stalled until spring

Southern Long Beach Island reportedly will have to go another winter without a federal beach replenishment project that was scheduled to begin next month. 

NJ Advance Media reports the project for Beach Haven and the Holgate section of Long Beach Township is being postponed until spring, possibly as late as April, because two dredges currently working on LBI are needed for out-of-state jobs.  A third dredge  working on Fire Island in New York that was supposed to join the two dredges on LBI also is headed to another job.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was informed this week by the company doing the work, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. in Illinois, according to NJ Advance Media.

A $128 million contract that company has for all of LBI included a completion date of May 22, 2016, according to NJ Advance Media.

This is the second time the project on southern LBI has been postponed in an area that's been vulnerable since Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Jersey Shore in October, 2012.

The project initially was scheduled to start in the fall but was pushed to January to give Long Beach Township more time to obtain necessary easement from oceanfront property owners.