Storm-Battered Beaches In Bay Head, Mantoloking, Point Beach To Get More Sand In Spring

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Beach replenishment along the northern Ocean County beaches is set for the first half of 2025, to refill areas where the beach has been eroded by storms, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced.

The $73.5 million project is expected to put 2.1 million cubic yards of sand on the beaches from Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet, authorities said, filling in areas that have lost sand over the last several years from the dune construction that took place from 2017-19.

Most of the base contract work involves widening the beach in eroded areas. In some areas, dunes, beach access paths/crossovers, and sand fencing will be repaired. Dune grass will be planted in areas that undergo repairs.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Houston, Texas, was awarded the contract for the project, the cost of which is being shared by the federal government, state government and Ocean County.

Here is the tentative schedule and the amount of sand to be placed in each area:

• Seaside Heights with taper into Seaside Park: 241,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in January and February
• Toms River (South beaches including Ortley Beach): 426,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in February/March
• Lavallette: 184,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in March
• Bay Head with taper into Point Pleasant Beach: 495,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in the spring
• Mantoloking: 392,000 cubic yards of sand work is estimated to take place in spring
• Brick Township: 227,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in early summer
• Toms River (North beaches): 135,000 cubic yards of sand; work is estimated to take place in summer

Sand will be dredged from three separate approved borrow areas located offshore of the project area in the Atlantic Ocean. The sand is then pumped onto the beach and graded into an engineered template, which is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company was anticipating arriving in the area by January. Construction is expected to take 6-7 months depending on weather and overall production.