The New Jersey Shore Protection, Brigantine Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, Brigantine Island project provides flood and coastal storm damage reduction along Brigantine Island, utilizing sand from an offshore borrow source. The project consists of berm and dune construction and periodic nourishment on a 6-year cycle along approximately 1.8 miles of coastline fronting the northern third of the city. Sand is dredged from sand borrow sources, pumped through pipeline onto the beach and graded into a designed dune and berm profile designed to reduce the risk of storm damages to infrastructure.
The project was authorized by Congress in 1999 and a cost-sharing agreement was signed with the State of New Jersey in 2004. It was initially constructed in 2006 and has been periodically nourished and repaired in subsequent years. Construction is cost-shared (65% federal and 35% non-federal). The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is the non-federal sponsor for the project.
The project includes the initial construction and periodic nourishment of a dune built to elevation +10 feet (North American Vertical Datum of 1988) fronted by a 100-foot berm along the northern 1.8 miles of the City of Brigantine. Periodic nourishment is conducted on a 6-year cycle pending available funding.
Army Corps awards contract for Brigantine beach nourishment
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District awarded a contract to Norfolk Dredging Company for $14 million to conduct periodic nourishment of the Brigantine dune and berm Coastal Storm Risk Management project. The project is a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the City of Brigantine.
The contract calls for dredging and placing approximately 850,000 cubic yards sand. Sand is dredged from a borrow site near Brigantine Inlet. Sand is then pumped through a series of pipes, placed on the beach, and graded into an engineered dune and berm template, which is designed to reduce damages from coastal storm events. In Brigantine, sand will be placed in the northern portion of the community from just north of 14th Street N. proceeding south to approximately Roosevelt Blvd.
Norfolk Dredging Company is expected to begin dredging and beachfill operations in July 2023 and work is expected to be completed in the fall. Dunes will be repaired in certain areas; however, most of the work includes widening the beach between the toe of the dune and the water line.
The project is cost-shared between the Federal government, the State of New Jersey, and the municipality.