North Wildwood Beach Replenishment Project Completed
If you blinked, you would have missed how quickly the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and its contractors rebuilt the beach.
Three weeks ago, NJDOT started the North Wildwood Emergency Beach Nourishment Dredging Project and now it is completed!
For those who don’t know, North Wildwood wasn’t supposed to have any beach work done due to various factors, including erosion and an ongoing lawsuit with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
North Wildwood Beach Replenishment Project Completed
As a result, North Wildwood barely had a beach, which is its primary asset. The beach erosion had become so severe that at high tide, some beaches didn’t exist.
This led to a larger conversation between North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
The main issue was that if nothing was done, the water would have damaged private property and the city’s sewer system.
In May, Murphy and Rosenello announced this new emergency beach nourishment dredging project to restore the beaches.
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The project involved dredging sand from the north tip of the island and dumping it onto the beach. The goal was to build the beaches to 200 by 100 feet for each block.
NJDOT decided to make this a 24/7 project to guarantee a July 2nd completion date. This meant that contractors were working around the clock from the start until the project’s completion.
Crews divided the project into two sections. Phase 1 involved dumping sand on 7th Avenue, moving north around the main jetty, and down 2nd Avenue.
Phase 2 started at 8th Avenue and moved south as far as possible.
The project’s end was determined by time and money. The state provided $10 million to initiate the project, while North Wildwood set aside up to $7 million to ensure its completion.
From the look of it, the project appears to have finished at the end of 23rd Street. There hasn’t been an official press release from the city about the final cost or the amount of sand used.
The only information relayed by the site today was that “The NJDOT and their contractors have finished pumping sand onto the North Wildwood beaches.
They are now in the process of demobilizing their equipment.”
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Even though the project is completed, crews will still be on-site to remove their tools, pipes, and machines from the beaches.
As a result, beach closures are still being issued. Today’s closures include 14th, 16th, and 17th Avenues.
The Wildwood Video Archive visited the beach on Friday, June 28th to film what the beach now look like after the project has been completed.
The dredging ships off the Inlet have already sailed away leaving behind the main pipe that comes onto the beach at 7th Ave.
On the closed sections of the beaches, crews are rebuilding ramps, removing equipment, and grading the dunes.
One of the biggest questions we had gotten was if there will this project stop beach erosion. The simple answer is no.
We are already starting to see some beach erosion at the corner of 2nd and JFK. Here we can see parts of the jetty starting to be uncovered due to the waves.
It is projected to get worse in this area but remember that this project was a temporary fix. Another beach replenishment could be starting later on in the fall.
You can watch our walking and drone tour of the finished beach below.
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