Brigantine Forced to Do Emergency Beach Replenishment
This winter's storms took a much larger toll on Brigantine's beaches than expected and left them in "desperate need of replenishment".
According to the Brigantine Department of Public Works, the winter storms and off-season nor'easters have severely eroded the town's North End beaches and left them in need of emergency replenishment.
In a social media post on Sunday, April 30, the Department of Public Works said they have no alternative.
Our Public Works Department did an amazing job last year repairing paths and keeping our North End beaches open, but the erosion is so bad that there is nothing more they can do.
Under the current conditions, the City is not even sure we would have the ability to keep our lifeguard equipment safely out on North End beaches.
The Public Works department acknowledged that having to do beach replenishment work during the early summer months is not an ideal situation, but it beats the other option -- having a number of beaches closed all summer.
Public Works expects bids for the work to be presented to the Army Corps of Engineers in the next week and the replenishment work to start in later May or early June.
Once the contract is awarded, we will have a better idea of the exact timelines and scope of the project.
We will work with the Army Corp to do all we can to minimize the inconvenience to our residents and summer visitors.
The Brigantine Department of Public Works expects more information on the project soon.
This beach erosion problem from this winter's storms is not unique to Brigantine. Other towns along the South Jersey coast have also taken a pounding and had substantial levels of beach erosion.
We undoubtedly will be hearing more about replenishment plans for other towns as well.