By Sunayana Prabhu
HIGHLANDS – Much to the relief of the coastal fishing and recreational communities, long-awaited dredging along the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers has commenced. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) announced the start of the project during a conference held at Veterans Memorial Park July 25 and livestreamed on social media.
Many boaters have been “complaining over the last couple of years about shoaling and inability of getting in and out of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers,” Pallone said. “We were able to get $26 million in the appropriations bill as a community project to actually do the work.”
Pallone secured the funds for maintenance dredging of the rivers in a federal spending bill for Fiscal Year 2023 that President Joe Biden signed into law last year.
Both rivers and the adjoining channels are home to “hundreds of boaters and their families, along with many marine businesses, restaurants and boating clubs,” said David White, boater and member of the Long Branch Ice Boat and Yacht Club, during the conference. White had reached out to Pallone with dredging requests because over the years the channels have become “increasingly difficult to navigate due to their limited depth,” said White.
Dredging started July 14 and will be completed in three phases. The Army Corps of Engineers will dredge the entrances of the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers at Sandy Hook, as well as the Navesink River to Red Bank and the Shrewsbury River as far as the Branchport Avenue Bridge in Long Branch – a total of approximately 14 miles. This is the federal channel that covers most of the waterway boaters use. Federal navigation channels are coastal channels and waterways maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and are necessary transportation systems that serve economic and national security interests.
The first phase of the project includes dredging sand material starting at the mouth of the Shrewsbury River in Sandy Hook Bay to the Captain Joseph Azzolina Memorial Bridge commonly known as the Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge that is part of the Route 36 span. Dredged sand from this area will be placed off Sea Bright for reuse as beach replenishment.
The second phase of the project will include dredging the remaining sandy material down the Shrewsbury River into the Navesink River as far as the Oceanic Bridge in Rumson. Dredged sand from these areas will be pumped onto portions of Monmouth Beach for beach replenishment. Pallone noted that the contract for phase two is expected to be awarded later this summer for dredging to begin by fall or, at the latest, this winter.
The third phase includes dredging the rest of the federal channel in the two rivers starting at the south branch of the Shrewsbury River down to Monmouth Beach and all the way down to the Branchport Avenue bridge which connects Oceanport and Long Branch. Since the material dredged during phase three is mostly “silt and clay material,” it cannot be used for beach replenishment, Pallone said. It will be placed at an off-site private contractor facility. Phase three is also expected to be awarded later this summer for a start in the fall.
The entire project is expected to be completed within the next year.
Several state and local officials, including Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon; Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman; Alexander Gregory, project manager, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers; and Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the New Jersey Depart ment of Environmental Protection, attended the conference to advocate for safe waterways for the community.
Recreational and commercial fishing and boating are vital for the region’s economy, LaTourette, said. “We will find good placement opportunities for this (dredged) material. We’ll enrich our beaches and ensure healthy habitats in these aquatic environments.”
The dredging will help the coastal communities that depend on navigable waterways. Two River-area mayors whose towns will be directly impacted by the dredging, Sea Bright Mayor Brian Kelly and Oceanport Mayor Jay Coffey, commented in a press release after the event. “The start of this dredging project is great news for Oceanport. It will greatly improve safety for the boaters and recreational fishing industry that use the Shrewsbury River,” said Coffey. “Our residents have been very concerned and vocal about this issue because the Shrewsbury River’s health directly impacts all of Oceanport and the surrounding communities.”
“Both the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers are important waterways for Sea Bright. Many people from our town depend on them for boating and fishing. We couldn’t be happier to see this funding come to Monmouth County,” said Kelly.
The article originally appeared in the August 3 – 9, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
