'Never enough': Toms River spent almost $1.3M replenishing Ortley Beach sand since 2021
TOMS RIVER - The $314,000 Toms River will pay to replenish the battered shoreline in Ortley Beach brings the total the township has spent on beach replenishment to $1,289,000 since 2021.
Winter storms have again damaged Ortley, where cliffs have been created from the beach to the dune line. Earle Asphalt will perform the replenishment work under a contract awarded late last month by the Township Council.
The township paid $305,000 for similar work in 2023; $240,000 in 2022, and $430,000 in 2021.
Mayor Daniel Rodrick said the work is expected to be done before Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer beach season. Earle estimated the work will take about a week to complete, the mayor said.
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"It's always a Band-Aid every year. It's never enough," said Councilman Justin D. Lamb, who represents Ward 1, which includes the barrier island area.
Ortley Beach resident Debra Martin worried that the work Earle has been contracted to do won't be enough to fix the entire beach.
"There is worse damage this year. How is $300,000 going to fix it?" Martin asked. She said "two years in a row, they ran out before they got to Fifth Avenue."
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Ortley Beach, the site of an inlet called the Cranberry Inlet in colonial times, has long been vulnerable to erosion. Superstorm Sandy caused catastrophic damage in Ortley in 2012, with almost every home in the small neighborhood suffering from flood damage.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished a nearly $130 million, 14-mile-long beach replenishment project in northern Ocean County in 2019. The project added sand to beaches in Ortley and other areas that took the brunt of Superstorm Sandy's record-setting surge. Areas of northern Ocean's barrier island were badly damaged by Sandy, with every house in Mantoloking suffering some storm damage; 200 homes in Ortley were washed away the night in October 2012 when Sandy struck.
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As part of that project, the corps agreed to return to the area to make repairs for 50 years on a regular basis, and on an emergent basis after severe storms.
Dunes and wider beaches provide a buffer for oceanfront homes and businesses during storms, helping to protect property from pounding waves. While the dune line has been damaged several times, there have been no breaches in Ortley or other parts of the northern Ocean barrier island, which could have allowed ocean water to reach homes and businesses.
While dunes have been damaged in Ortley and beaches have shrunk after storms, the ocean has not broken through the dune line since Sandy.
The 2022 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $30.2 million in federal money for beach nourishment work between the Manasquan and Barnegat inlets, which adds sand to local dunes and beaches. That was about half the estimated cost of the work. The state and Ocean County are covering the remainder of the cost.
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Two bid protests blocked award of a contract for the beach work for many months. The Army Corps is expected to advertise for bids this month, and award a contract by summer. If that schedule holds, replenishment work could start in the fall.
Rodrick has suggested that "a near-shore reef and some groins" could help stop the constant erosion threat in Ortley.
Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 39 years. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ortley Beach replenishment cost Toms River $1.3M for sand since 2021
