Sea Bright Sea Wall to Take 18 Months

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SEA BRIGHT – Construction of a new section of the borough’s sea wall and repairs to existing portions are expected to begin next spring or early summer.
A year from now, Mayor Dina Long said, construction should be well under way toward reinforcing what she calls a vital part of the town’s storm defenses.
Plans call for the new section of the sea wall to be built to close an approximately 600-foot gap in the wall in the area of the borough’s downtown district.
“Clearly, what we’re talking about is making sure a Sandy-like storm doesn’t cause the kind of destruction in Sea Bright again,” Long said. “This is a necessary project for our future sustainability as a community.”
The new portion of the sea wall will be built from East Surf Street to River Street, an area that overlooks much of the municipal beach and across from much of the downtown business district.
During Sandy, the ocean tidal surge created a funnel through the gap in the protective sea wall, Long said. That funnel “destroyed every storefront on Ocean Avenue” in the downtown area.
With the construction of the new section, “the storm surge will still come over the wall. Yes, that can happen but now we won’t have the funnel that will accelerate the velocity of the water,” Long said.
According to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin, work on constructing the new section plus the shoring of three other sections that were breached and damaged during the October 2012 storm is expected to go out to bid later this year or early next year.
The project is estimated to take about 18 months to complete with the DEP pledging $8.5 million for the joint state and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) effort, according to Long.
Once completed, the sea wall will run the entire length of the borough and into Monmouth Beach.
The $8.5 million the state is contributing will come from the DEP’s $25 million Shore Protection Fund, according to Lawrence Hajna, a DEP spokesman.
Along with constructing the new section, work will include repairing the existing wall from East Surf Street to East Church Street where it was damaged by Sandy, previous and subsequent storms. The large boulders will be replaced or added to the structure.
The DEP is also working with FEMA to repair other damaged pockets along the wall, according to the DEP.
Gov. Chris Christie appeared in Sea Bright Thursday, Aug. 28, to announce the project and funding.
“Repairing and extending the wall in Sea Bright is part of a continuing effort we are making to fully restore and protect our entire coastline part of our statewide effort to be more resilient to future storms and weather events that occur in New Jersey,” he said in a statement.
The project is something that borough officials, residents and business owners identified as vital to the community’s recovery and future sustainability.
In February, ***ITALThe Two River Times***END reported that Martin said the DEP was discussing the wall project with Sea Bright officials, its engineer and federal representatives and had drafted a design for the future project.
During one of his town hall meetings held in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown that month, Christie said the project was part of “a plan to deal with the entire coast of the state.”
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