Dredging To Resume 'Shortly' In Manasquan Inlet, Army Corps Says

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Emergency dredging to address a large shoal inside Manasquan Inlet will resume as soon as weather and sea conditions allow, possibly as soon as Saturday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday.

The U.S. Army Corps Dredge Murden completed two cycles of dredging on Tuesday, said Stephen Rochette, an Army Corps spokesman. But there remains work to do to address what he described as "rapid shoaling" in the inlet.

Rochette warned again that people should stay off the shoal, and not walk on it, fish from it or otherwise use it for recreation because it is unstable.

"The shoal is vulnerable to collapsing particularly after dredging operations," Rochette said.

The shoaling, photos and video of which made the rounds on social media on Sunday and Monday, narrowed the channel of the 450-foot-wide inlet by nearly half, prompting calls from Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Doug Vitale and Rep. Chris Smith for the federal agency to quickly address the issue.

The Dredge Murden already was scheduled to be in the area later in August, Rochette said Monday, but the seriousness of the shoaling has led to the Army Corps shifting the schedule to address it now.

"I’m grateful to the USACE Wilmington, New England, and New York Districts for their flexibility and re-arranging dredging operations at other locations to enable this work to move forward this weekend as opposed to later in the month when it was originally scheduled," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Beeman, U.S. Army Corps Philadelphia District commander.

"I also want to thank our survey crews and the Murden crew for their efforts," Beeman said.

The Dredge Murden is a 156-foot split-hull hopper dredge owned and operated by the U.S. Aarmy Corps of Engineers Wilmington District. It conducts dredging operations on numerous shallow draft channels and inlets along the East and Gulf coasts.

The Army Corps reminded that Manasquan Inlet "is dynamic and conditions within the inlet can rapidly change," Rochette said. "Significant shoaling has frequently occurred within the Inlet and often dissipates due to changing wind/wave conditions. Mariners should heed all warnings from the U.S. Coast Guard and proceed with caution."