News
OCEAN CITY - A $6 million city beach fill next month is expected to improve navigation in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet, [New Jersey] state officials said.
The sand to be pumped on the city's north-end beaches will be harvested from the mouth of the inlet, according to the state Bureau of Coastal Engineering.
Ocean City boater Mike O'Neill of Stray Cat Charters raised the question Monday after spending the spring navigating the treacherous shallows in his 53-foot fishing boat.
O'Neill said he feared the dredging project would harvest sand farther south around 20th Street, where it would do Ocean City boaters little good.
The inlet has become so unpredictable that a commercial scallop boat recently ran aground near a navigation marker.
“One of the things that disturbed me is they would plop the dredge in one place and just dig a hole. If you're going to put a dredge there, let's put it in a place where we need to help navigation," said former charter boat captain and current Egg Harbor Township Mayor James 'Sonny' McCullough.
Benjamin Keiser, acting manager of the state Bureau of Coastal Engineering, said the state picked a dredge site 5,000 feet offshore on the ebb shoal of the inlet. The map indicates the site is offshore roughly between North Street and the city's northern tip.
"I want to make it clear we are not dredging the entire channel, just the area approved under the permit," he said.
Still, the project is expected to help clear the inlet, he said.
City Engineer Dick Carter said the state's federal dredging permit stipulates this harvest area, the same place Ocean City has called on for previous beach fills.
"They probably picked it based on several things, the grain size of the sand, the location of the channel and shoaling in the inlet," Carter said. "They also had to consider clam beds and other environmental restrictions. All of those things reviewed through the permit process have determined this is the most appropriate location for the borrow site."
The state will pay 75 percent of the $6 million bill while Ocean City picks up the rest, city Business Administrator James Rutala said.
The federal government has promised the city another $2.8 million for its next beach project, he said.
Like a geyser, the dredge will dump 600,000 cubic yards of sand on the city's most popular beaches. This is the equivalent of 30,000 dump truck loads.
The dredge should arrive from Virginia by May 7 and begin pumping sand onto city beaches between North and 12th Streets three days later. The project is slated for completion by June 10.
The sand to be pumped on the city's north-end beaches will be harvested from the mouth of the inlet, according to the state Bureau of Coastal Engineering.
Ocean City boater Mike O'Neill of Stray Cat Charters raised the question Monday after spending the spring navigating the treacherous shallows in his 53-foot fishing boat.
O'Neill said he feared the dredging project would harvest sand farther south around 20th Street, where it would do Ocean City boaters little good.
The inlet has become so unpredictable that a commercial scallop boat recently ran aground near a navigation marker.
“One of the things that disturbed me is they would plop the dredge in one place and just dig a hole. If you're going to put a dredge there, let's put it in a place where we need to help navigation," said former charter boat captain and current Egg Harbor Township Mayor James 'Sonny' McCullough.
Benjamin Keiser, acting manager of the state Bureau of Coastal Engineering, said the state picked a dredge site 5,000 feet offshore on the ebb shoal of the inlet. The map indicates the site is offshore roughly between North Street and the city's northern tip.
"I want to make it clear we are not dredging the entire channel, just the area approved under the permit," he said.
Still, the project is expected to help clear the inlet, he said.
City Engineer Dick Carter said the state's federal dredging permit stipulates this harvest area, the same place Ocean City has called on for previous beach fills.
"They probably picked it based on several things, the grain size of the sand, the location of the channel and shoaling in the inlet," Carter said. "They also had to consider clam beds and other environmental restrictions. All of those things reviewed through the permit process have determined this is the most appropriate location for the borrow site."
The state will pay 75 percent of the $6 million bill while Ocean City picks up the rest, city Business Administrator James Rutala said.
The federal government has promised the city another $2.8 million for its next beach project, he said.
Like a geyser, the dredge will dump 600,000 cubic yards of sand on the city's most popular beaches. This is the equivalent of 30,000 dump truck loads.
The dredge should arrive from Virginia by May 7 and begin pumping sand onto city beaches between North and 12th Streets three days later. The project is slated for completion by June 10.
