US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District

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Contact: J. Bailey Smith

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Wanamaker Building,
Room 600
100 Penn Square East
Phila, PA 19107-3390

Phone: 215-656-6579
FAX: 215-656-6543

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Regional Sediment Management (RSM)

Shore Protection Projects

The New Jersey Atlantic Ocean coastline extends from Sandy Hook to Cape May, New Jersey, covering a range of approximately 130 miles (Click for Map). The New Jersey coastline from Manasquan Inlet south to Cape May Point lies within the boundaries of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Philadelphia District while from Manasquan Inlet north is under the jurisdiction of the USACE, New York District. Within the Philadelphia District study region, there are ten tidal inlets in New Jersey, four of which are federally authorized navigation projects (Manasquan Inlet, Barnegat Inlet, Absecon Inlet and Cape May Inlet). Net longshore transport is northward to the north of Barnegat Inlet and southward to the south of Barnegat Inlet, with localized reversals in transport direction adjacent to the tidal inlets.

As of December 2006, seven federally authorized beachfill projects have been constructed along the Philadelphia District’s New Jersey coastline: Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet, Absecon Island, Brigantine Island, Ocean City from Great Egg Harbor Inlet to 36th Street, Avalon/Stone Harbor, Cape May City, and Lower Cape May Meadows/Cape May Point. As a result of reconnaissance and detailed feasibility studies co-sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the USACE, an additional three beachfill projects and other related projects fronting the Atlantic Ocean are scheduled for construction through 2010.

Federally-authorized beachfill projects within the Philadelphia District jurisdiction (Manasquan Inlet to Cape May) are presented in the table below. This table considers information including construction date, beachfill placed as of April 1, 2008 (including initial construction and periodic nourishment), future programmed beachfill needs for the entire 50-yr project life, and sediment availability for borrow areas*.

Project	Scheduled Initial Construction	Philadelphia District jurisdiction Quantities (Cubic Yards)
Project	Scheduled Initial Construction	Beachfill (placed to date as of 1 April 2008)	Programmed Future Beachfill (after 1 April 2008)	Borrow Area Availability*
Manasquan to Barnegat	Not authorized, potential Fall 2010	0	23,182,000	17,500,000
Barnegat to Little Egg (LBI)	Commenced Dec 2006 at Surf City	700,000	20,000,000	26,200,000
Brigantine to Great Egg (Brigantine)	Completed - Spring 2006	672,000	2,496,000	2,700,000
Brigantine to Great Egg (Absecon)	Completed - Winter 2003/04	4,600,000	25,456,000	13,200,000
Great Egg to Townsends	Not authorized, potential Fall 2010	0	31,800,000	45,461,000
Ocean City	Completed - 1993	10,547,000	13,200,000	5,600,000
Townsends to Cape May (Avalon & Stone Harbor)	Completed - 2003	4,400,000	11,936,000	4,100,000
Hereford Inlet to Cape May	To Be Determined
Cape May City	Completed - 1991	3,426,000	6,228,000	2,200,000
Lower Cape May Meadows	Completed - Winter 2004/05	1,340,000	7,800,000	8,200,000
		24,988,800	142,798,000	125,161,000

*Borrow area available sediment quantities consider only federally authorized or environmental-permitted borrow areas. Available sediment considers post-project construction quantities for constructed projects (non-constructed projects consider pre-project construction quantities). Quantities were determined by calculating the volumetric difference between the sediment-water interface from bathymentric surveys (collected between 2004 and 2006) and the beachfill-quality sand depth based on vibracores and construction dredging depth limitations. Quantities do not consider infilling rates, an analysis which is presently being performed.

A total of approximately 168 million cubic yards of material will be placed over the entire 50-year lifecycles of these projects. Available borrow material estimates have been calculated without consideration of infilling rates. Analyses including infilling rates are presently underway to develop more detailed quantity estimates. Borrow area locations for these projects range from adjacent tidal inlet channels and ebb shoals to nearshore and offshore features.

A summary of all (inclusive of federally authorized beachfills discussed above) documented historical beach nourishment events on the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey is provided below.

Documented New Jersey Atlantic Coast beach nourishment projects Summary of Quantities (as of 31 December 2010)
	Cubic Yards
Total Beach Nourishment - Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays	14,154,066
Total Beach Nourishment - Monmouth County Atlantic Coast	35,636,288
Total Beach Nourishment - Ocean County Island Beach Long Beach Island	18,318,374 2,254,555 16,063,819
Total Beach Nourishment - Atlantic County Absecon Island Brigantine Island	18,236,842 15,030,842 3,206,000
Total Beach Nourishment - Cape May County	50,447,275 25,423,388 7,856,367 8,154,088 2,139,654 6,873,778
Peck Island Ludlam Island Seven-Mile Island Five-Mile Island Cape May

Details of historical beach nourishment events are included on a county-by-county basis below:

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