By Liz Sheehan
MONMOUTH BEACH – Work on repairing and filling in gaps in the Sea Bright-Monmouth Beach seawall, including placing a 600-foot portion of the wall in front of the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion and a 1,000- foot part in the downtown section of Sea Bright, is scheduled to begin this fall, and last for two years.
Caryn Shinske, a spokesperson for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, said the bids for the project will be opened on Sept. 21. She said the final costs will not be known until then.
But a statement released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in December said that the agency had allocated $31,344,834 to the project which it estimated would cost $34,827,594. Ten percent of the cost would be paid for by the state, according to the FEMA statement.
MONMOUTH BEACH – Work on repairing and filling in gaps in the Sea Bright-Monmouth Beach seawall, including placing a 600-foot portion of the wall in front of the Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion and a 1,000- foot part in the downtown section of Sea Bright, is scheduled to begin this fall, and last for two years.
Caryn Shinske, a spokesperson for the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, said the bids for the project will be opened on Sept. 21. She said the final costs will not be known until then.
But a statement released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in December said that the agency had allocated $31,344,834 to the project which it estimated would cost $34,827,594. Ten percent of the cost would be paid for by the state, according to the FEMA statement.
Sue Howard, the mayor of Monmouth Beach, said Wednesday that she had received permission under the Coastal Area Review Act from the state to have an elevated deck built on the east side of the new seawall facing the ocean at the town’s beach club, as the existing deck will have its ocean view blocked once the new wall is built. She said that there would be ramps and stairs placed at the current entrances to the beach.
The 600-foot portion of the new seawall would extend from the foot of Valentine Street to an existing section of the seawall just south of the pool at the beach club.
Both residents and nonresidents can pay a fee to use the bathing pavilion and beach, although new nonresident memberships that include the pool are now closed.
Sea Bright mayor Dina Long said the 1,000-foot gap between Woody’s restaurant and the Sea Bright Beach Club needs to be filled. She said that a temporary steel wall was now in place there, which would be replaced.
The 600-foot portion of the new seawall would extend from the foot of Valentine Street to an existing section of the seawall just south of the pool at the beach club.
Both residents and nonresidents can pay a fee to use the bathing pavilion and beach, although new nonresident memberships that include the pool are now closed.
Sea Bright mayor Dina Long said the 1,000-foot gap between Woody’s restaurant and the Sea Bright Beach Club needs to be filled. She said that a temporary steel wall was now in place there, which would be replaced.
Long said the lack of a seawall in that section during Super Storm Sandy had resulted in the funneling of ocean water surging into the downtown section of the borough, which destroyed or badly damaged homes and businesses.
She said the schedule for the work had not yet been determined since the contractor has not been selected but that FEMA knew the town was a summer community.
She said the schedule for the work had not yet been determined since the contractor has not been selected but that FEMA knew the town was a summer community.
“If all goes well,” Long said, the project portion in the town will be completed by the 2017 summer season.
Shinske said another gap in the wall in Sea Bright that is to be closed is at the former site of the Tradewinds Beach Club. It is now a residential area, called Tradewinds Lane. Long said there was a 25- foot gap there.
She said that other work in the borough during the project would include repairs to the seawall near the bridge that links the town to Highlands.
The FEMA statement said that the project will repair the existing 4.7 miles of seawall as well as adding new wall where gaps exist.
Shinske said another gap in the wall in Sea Bright that is to be closed is at the former site of the Tradewinds Beach Club. It is now a residential area, called Tradewinds Lane. Long said there was a 25- foot gap there.
She said that other work in the borough during the project would include repairs to the seawall near the bridge that links the town to Highlands.
The FEMA statement said that the project will repair the existing 4.7 miles of seawall as well as adding new wall where gaps exist.
