WILDWOOD CREST — Portions of the borough’s beach will be closed as sand from Wildwood Crest heads to North Wildwood.
After North Wildwood lost large amounts sand during Hurricane Irene and the October storms of 2011, officials turned to their southern neighbor, Wildwood Crest, whose beaches continue to grow.
Last year both towns approved the sand transfer project, which is now scheduled to begin.
North Wildwood expects to collect 96,000 cubic yards of sand from Wildwood Crest in a project that will help both towns with their beach infrastructure.
The extra sand will fill in gaps on the city’s beach between Second and Fourth avenues and farther south at 22nd to 26th avenues in North Wildwood.
In Wildwood Crest, which sees its beaches grow at a rate of about 50 feet a year, the expanding beach has become a problem.
The sand builds berms along the beach that creates ponds behind them where rainwater becomes trapped. According to officials, in 2009, the borough paid $450,000 to fill in the ponds that had formed along the beach, but the problem soon returned.
Engineers said a plan to truck sand from one town to another would instead create a gentle slope along the borough’s beach.
North Wildwood opted for emergency beach replenishment project that will make use of trucks instead of much more expensive dredges. Moving the sand is expected to cost about $7 to $8 per cubic yard, a considerable drop from the estimated $15 per cubic yard in dredging costs.
North Wildwood City Council President Patrick Rosenello said the cost of the project will be shared, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency paying for 75 percent of it and the remainder picked up by North Wildwood.
The contractor, Mount Construction of Berlin, has started to harvest sand from south to north in Wildwood Crest in five-block increments starting at Monterrey Avenue. The work will move into the next northern five-block increment once the design grade in each harvested section is established.
During this project, portions of the borough’s beach will be closed to the public due to safety precautions. Mount Construction will be working on the beach in Wildwood Crest generally from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Weekend and after-hours work will only be necessary to complete the work in Wildwood Crest by mid May.
Written by : Lauren Suit can be e-mailed at lauren.suit@catamaranmedia.com or you can comment at shorenewstoday.com.