609-494-5739 Two different “beach projects” caught my attention this past weekend. One I shared previously on Instagram 1/18/25 showing a before and after at the Lighthouse Jetty.
Dredge Spoils At Lighthouse Jetty
The Double Creek & High Bar dredge work wrapped up but the project is far from over. The dredge spoils were hydraulically dredged and transported via pipeline to the state park. But the situation there has turned into a public safety nightmare. I first shared information about the public safety hazard with a before and after video on January 18th via Instagram. I predicted a larger problem existed and thought it would play out overtime. I didn’t think it would happen so fast.
This is not the first time bay dredging maintenance was placed by the Lighthouse. It has been done numerous time over they last ten years. However, in my opinion, this time there was major oversight, failure of the plans and/or supervision over the shoreside part of the project. The failure to understand the dynamics of the area was negligent. Black geo-matting was used in the past and should of been used from the start. But this go around either no matting was used or not used properly.
There are very large sinkholes caused by the tide fluctuations sucking the sand underneath the concrete walkway and through the rock jetty. It has gotten worse with each tide cycle. Thankfully there is safety netting now to keep people away from the sink holes.
When filming this video I found large rolls of black geotextile matting (MIRAFI N-Series non-woven polypropylene geotextile) which looks to be staged and ready to use. This material allows for high water flow rates, excellent soil retention and long lasting durability. Hopefully this will be installed soon. But WOW! Talk about a waste of time, money and public safety risk not putting this down first. Now we have more sand shoaling up in the inlet that adds to the hazard. Are “they” paying to dredge the sand out of the inlet?
A little more info on the project is shared at the end of this blog post.
Barnegat Light’s New Piping Plover Beach Project
Here’s a first look at the second questionable beach project on Long Beach Island’s North End. How they are linked if at all is unknown to me. Is it just a coincident they occurred within a tight time window? Possibly but I assume the shoreside equipment and operators were used. More below.
The Barnegat Light dune excavation and removal of vegetation and maritime forest seems extreme. So much for the DEP’s protection of the dunes, fragile habitat of Seabeach Amaranth and other beach plant species! There was serious discussions as recently as last year that threatened shutting down beach access in order to protect this plant.
I heard about the activity a couple days ago and saw a couple photos from Tim Brindley and Joy Ludke. They blew my mind! It looked like somebody went a little crazy. Like a kid in a sandbox playing around with some Tonka trucks but on a much larger level. I was shocked and had to take a look to see it first hand.
Take a look for yourself as I walk through the 7/8th street beach access trail and pan through the area. I also show the erosion of beach at the Old South Jetty and the fish bowl cove leading towards the Sea King’s mast and “The Point” aka “The Bar” to the south.
Info On The Lighthouse Dredge Material Placement
A simple search pulled up this public notice from 2015 which details the purpose, location, activities and more about what I believe to be the same project. If that is the case, in my unqualified opinion, the recent activities grossly exceeded the designated 3.2 acre “sand stockpile area” shown below.
Wish I had more, but I’m not going through a public records request route.
More On Plover Beach
After I recorded the two videos I ended up diving in more to the topics. As assumed the two events are part of the same project that’s “made possible through collaborative efforts and funding from a number of partners, including Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.” Here’s a link on the collaboration…
Getting THE BEACH READY FOR PLOVERS
