Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach Shore Replenishment Targeted for Late July Start

Money is allocated, a contractor is in place, and restoration of the shorelines in Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to start in late July.

According to information from Representative Frank Pallone's (D-6) office, the Great Lakes Dredging and Dock Company LLC has won the job and has 175 days to start it.

The project is one of four phases of replenishment planned from Sea Bright to Manasquan. It's expected to require 2,500,000 cubic yards of sand. Federal funding for the entire project stands at $102,000,000. Phase One has an estimated cost of $25,590,800.

The remaining segments extend from Belmar to Manasquan, through Long Branch, and from Asbury Park to Avalon. Contracts for them are expected to be awarded in July.

The Army Corps plans to complete the full project by the start of 2014.

"Unfortunately, Superstorm Sandy made the conditions of some of our beaches go from bad to worse," Pallone said in a prepared release, "but once this project is complete, our beaches will be replenished and wider than they were even before the storm."

Coastal experts consider a beach's width to be essential to the success of any storm-protection project as its first line of defense. The longer the beach, the less the impact of waves on dunes.