Action Examples: Absecon Island Shore Project, New Jersey
Introduction
To reduce beach erosion along the oceanfront and protect homes and businesses from the rising sea, in 2003 the US Army Corps of Engineers together with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection began a $63 million beach and dune system along the 8.5 mile oceanfront of Absecon Island. Absecon Island is home to Atlantic City, Ventor, Margate and Longport.
Analysis
During coastal storms, the oceanfront of Absecon Island has been one of the hardest hit of New Jersey’s barrier islands, especially during nor’easters. Numerous shoreline protection projects including seawalls, beach nourishment and bulkheads have been completed in this area. But much of the shoreline continued to erode, and storms continued to cause flooding from the ocean side--despite the bulkheads.
In 1992, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection studied ways to reduce Absecon Island’s storm damage due to flooding and wave attack and to minimize shoreline erosion. Objectives included:
- Reducing the impacts of long-term beach erosion along the oceanfront
- Improving the stability and longevity of beaches and shore protection structures
- Reducing storm flooding and wave damage along both ocean and inlet frontages
Using a computer model that simulated storm events from 5- to 500-year frequency, the study team estimated monetary damages from storm-induced erosion, wave attack and inundation (flooding) under different protection scenarios. They concluded that building a 16-foot-high dune and 200–foot-wide berm in Atlantic City would yield net benefits of $957,000. For the secondary project area of Ventor, Margate and Longport, a 14-foot-high dune and 100-foot-wide berm would yield net benefits of $592,000.
Phase I beach fill began in Atlantic City and Ventnor in 2003, to be completed in 2005. The cost for this phase is $950,000.
Sources and photo credits:
- USACE New Jersey Projects
- Absecon Island Shore Protection Project
- Absecon Island Shore Protection: The planning behind the project
- Absecon Island Shore Protection: Project Update
*All website references were accessed in April 2005.
