Current Status

USACE awarded a contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company for periodic nourishment of the project. The contract calls for the placement of 1.2 million cubic yards of sediment. Work started in November 2024 in Atlantic City while work began in January 2025 in Ventnor City. Dredging and beachfill operations were completed in both Atlantic City and Ventnor City in February 2025. 

Background

Initial construction of the beachfill component of the project was completed for Atlantic City and Ventnor in June 2004. The beachfill for Margate and Longport and the Absecon Inlet bulkhead improvements in Atlantic City remained uncompleted when Hurricane Sandy impacted the project area. In November 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded a contract to Weeks Marine Inc. to complete initial construction of the beachfill in Margate and Longport. Beachfill operations completed in April 2018.  In addition, in December 2014, USACE awarded a contract to J. Fletcher Cramer Inc. to complete the Absecon Inlet seawall and rebuild the historic Atlantic City boardwalk along the same section of the inlet frontage. The inlet work was completed in April 2018.  This latter phase of initial construction was funded entirely by the federal government through the 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, commonly known as the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill. The project was turned over to the non-federal sponsor, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, after the completion of initial construction in each area for continuing Operations and Maintenance.

Absecon Island is an approximately 8-mile long  barrier island located in Atlantic County, New Jersey.  The area has historically suffered damages from coastal storms, hurricanes and nor'easters. The Absecon Island Coastal Storm Risk Management project is designed to reduce the risk of loss of lives and damages to property and infrastructure from the waves, erosion, high tides and surges associated with these storm events.   The project provides flood and coastal storm risk management along Absecon Island, which includes the municipalities of Atlantic City, Ventnor City, Margate City and the Borough of Longport.

The project Features include beachfill with a dune crest width of 25 feet at elevation +14.75 feet above the North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD 88), and a berm width of 200 ft. at elevation +7.5 ft. NAVD 88  within Atlantic City; A dune crest width of 25 feet at elevation +12.75 feet above NAVD 88, and a berm width of 100 ft. at elevation +7.5 ft. NAVD 88  within Ventnor, Margate and Longport, along with construction of various types of dune crossovers, sand fencing, and the planting of multiple species of native dune grasses. Periodic nourishment is authorized on a 3-year cycle. The project also includes construction of 1776 feet of bulkhead and stone revetment along the Absecon Inlet frontage of Atlantic City, and a stormwater management system in Margate which includes 5 ocean outfall pipes.  The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection serves as the Non-Federal cost sharing Sponsor for this project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completed the New Jersey Shore Protection, Brigantine Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, Absecon Island Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement in August 1996, which defined the project that maximized the National Economic Development benefits for reduced risk of coastal storm damage. The feasibility study investigated flood and coastal storm damage effects between the two inlets. The study involved extensive engineering, environmental, and economic analyses and recommended the construction of a dune and berm system with the intent of reducing impacts from coastal erosion and storms.  The Report of the Chief of Engineers was released in December 1996 and Congress authorized construction of the project in the Water Resources Development Act of 1996. A Project Cooperation Agreement was executed in July 2003 between the non-Federal Sponsor, the NJDEP and the Department of the Army represented by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. As a consequence of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, Congress passed Public Law, the “Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013”, which authorized supplemental appropriations to USACE to complete the initial construction of the project.  A new Project Partnership Agreement was executed in June 2014 between the NJDEP and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.