New Jersey Shore Protection, Brigantine Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet, Absecon Island

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: NJ-2

APPROPRIATION / PHASE: Construction, General

BUSINESS PROGRAM: Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction

AUTHORITY: This project was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1996. 

LOCATION: Absecon Island extends approximately 8.1 miles along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey from Absecon Inlet to Great Egg Harbor Inlet. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Absecon Island project is designed to reduce storm damages to homes and infrastructure from the waves, high tides and storm surges associated with these events. The communities along the New Jersey shoreline have suffered significant storm damages from nor’easters and hurricanes and are at risk to suffer further damages from coastal storms. The project provides flood and coastal storm risk management along Absecon Island. The project includes beachfill, with a 200-foot-wide berm and a dune to elevation +14.75 feet for Atlantic City and a 100-foot wide berm and a dune to elevation 12.75 for Ventnor, Margate and Longport. The project also includes 0.3 miles of bulkhead construction along the Absecon Inlet frontage of Atlantic City. In 2019, USACE and its contractor completed construction of a stormwater management system in Margate, which includes 5 ocean outfall pipes and a lateral manifold system to collect and convey stormwater. 

The project remains eligible for continued periodic nourishment. 

The Fiscal Year 2024 Bilateral Infrastructure Law (BIL) included $25 million to initiate and complete the next nourishment cycle. A construction contract is scheduled to be awarded in the summer of 2024 with construction likely in fall/winter of 2025. 

SPONSOR: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

DATE OF PROJECT AGREEMENT: 31 Jul 2003 (PCA); and 23 June 2014 (PPA)

TARGET COMPLETION DATE: 2053

PROJECT MANAGER: Keith Watson