The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $63.3 million contract to build engineered beaches and dunes in Margate and Longport and to replenish beaches in Atlantic City and Ventnor.
The Absecon Island Coastal Storm Damage Reduction project is a joint effort of the Army Corps’ Philadelphia District and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.
The contract was awarded to Cranford-based Weeks Marine Inc. and covers about eight miles of shoreline stretching from Brigantine Inlet south to Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The contract amount could increase based on options for placement of additional sand based on conditions that exist when the sand is placed.
The Army Corps will issue a notice to Weeks Marine Inc. directing work to start before the end of the year.
The work is expected to be completed by October 2017.
Work involves constructing an engineered dune and berm system in Margate and Longport as well as the scheduled nourishment of the previously constructed sections of the project in Atlantic City and Ventnor.
The contract calls for a 200-foot-wide beach, also known as a berm, and a dune built to an elevation of nearly 15 feet above sea level for Atlantic City. A 100-foot wide berm and a dune to an elevation of nearly 13 feet above sea level will be built for Ventnor, Margate and Longport.
More than 3.8 million cubic yards of sand will be dredged from approved offshore areas and pumped through a series of pipes onto the beaches of the four municipalities.
The sand will then be built into a dune and beach system designed to reduce potential damages to infrastructure, businesses and homes that can occur from coastal storm events.
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