Manasquan Beach Replenishment Scheduled to Start Oct. 31

The Manasquan beach replenishment project is scheduled to begin on Oct. 31 and end by late November, according to state and federal officials who spoke at a Thursday night meeting at Manasquan Borough Hall.

The Manasquan portion of the work is part of a $25 million project extending from Belmar to Manasquan and is one of four beach replenishment projects that span the entire East coast, said officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The project is only to replenish the beach to create a berm at an elevation of 9.3 feet, but not to create dunes because the project design calls for restoring the beach to its state just after a 1997 beach replenishment, not to go beyond that by building a dune system, said Chris Constantino, the state Department of Environmental Protection's project manager.

He said there are some discussions between the town and the DEP about whether the town could provide funds for a possible dune project in the future, but it's not yet clear whether than can happen, he added. The town had built dunes in the past, he said.

The replenished berm will be 140 to 250 feet wide (the width will vary at different points in the span of the project) and at an elevation of 9.3 feet, which is lower than the 13 foot elevation of the promenade, Constantino said. 

Because Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Shore so severely, an emergency spending bill was passed by Congress, so this particular project is 100 federally- funded, said Jenifer Thalhauser, Regional Project Manager for the Army Corps. 

Most beach replenishment projects are paid for with 65 percent federal funding, with the remainder usually a mix of state and local funds.

The Army Corps last did a beach replenishment project in Manasquan in 1997 and had been planning, before the area was hit by Irene or Sandy, to replenish the Manasquan beach.

However, this replenishment will be to a more significant extent than what was originally planned, Thalhauser said. This project will restore the beach to the 1997 replenishment design, and the more extensive work was made possible by the emergency supplemental Sandy bill authorized by Congress, she said. 

After going through a public bidding process, the $25,254,400 dredging and beach replenishment contract was awarded to Dutra Group, based in California, and it's expected they will begin dredging on Oct. 31, Constantino said.

The sand pumping for the larger Belmar-Manasquan project will take about 125 days and the larger replenishment project, from Belmar to Manasquan, "must be done by April 4, 2014," according to one of the Power Point slides Constantino showed during his presentation.

Sand will be dredged from an area just off Sandy Hook because the sand matches the sand on the Manasquan beach, enough sand is available from that source and it's close enough to Manasquan to make it feasible, said Donald E. Cresitello of the Army Corps.

About 425,000 cubic yards of sand, or 5,100 linear feet, will be used to replenish Manasquan's beach.

Prior to the storms during the past two years, Manasquan had a dune system on top of a berm, which, combined, was at a height of about 22 to 24 feet (varying in points), Constantino said.

The purpose of replenishment is to "reduce damage from storms," Cresitello said, responding to a question from a resident.

As crews gear up to start the Manasquan project, the staging area for equipment will be at the nearby National Guard base and project signs will be erected within the staging area, Constantino said.

State and Army Corps personnel will be on site at all times and will also be at weekly meetings with local officials.

The majority of the stone jetties will be covered in sand, Constantino said.

Constantino said the DEP is addressing environmental concerns, such as the presence of a rare plant called Amaranth, much of which was wiped out by Sandy, sea turtles and birds such as the piping plover and Oyster catcher.

The Manasquan project has been planned wth Sea Girt officials as a project for both municipalities. The Sea Girt portion of the project is tentatively scheduled to begin Dec. 1 and is also expected to take at least 30 days, maybe a bit longer, Constantino said.

Constantino said that because beach replenishment has been done before on Manasquan and Sea Girt beaches, the DEP has all necessary easements signed. Most of the beaches in the two municipalities are owned by the towns, he said.

Some of the elected officials from Manasquan and Sea Girt and about 20 residents attended the meeting.

For more information about the project, call Constantino at his DEP office in Toms River at (732) 255-0767.