Crime & Safety

State Awards Contract for Oceanfront Steel Wall in Brick, Mantoloking

$23.8M project will erect a 'last line of defense' against breaches in future Sandy-like storms

A North Jersey firm has been awarded a $23.8 million contract by the state Department of Environmental Protection to build a four mile-long steel protective wall along the ocean in Brick and Mantoloking in order to shore up the area's dune system and prevent ocean breaches like the one that occurred near the Mantoloking Bridge during Superstorm Sandy.

The wall will be constructed before a massive beach and dune replenishment project begins in the fall, but will be engineered to work in tandem with the future dunes to protect not only the reconstructed Route 35 but thousands of homes and businesses on both shores of Barnegat Bay.

The contract calls for the project – which will be funded 80 percent by the federal government and 20 percent by the state – to be completed within 180 days. Construction is expected to begin in June, officials with the DEP said.

The 45 foot-high wall, which will be constructed by EIC Associates of Springfield Township, Union County, will be covered by the future dune line after it is driven 30 feet underground in order to prevent the ocean from breaching the state highway and barrier island even in the worst of storms.

“We are eager for this important project to get started, as it will help safeguard a narrow segment of coastline that was breached during Superstorm Sandy,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “It is paramount that we lessen the vulnerabilities to future storms.’’

An ocean breach during Sandy at Herbert Street in Mantoloking, at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge which connects Ocean County's northern barrier island with mainland Brick Township, has been blamed for increasing the water level of Barnegat Bay which resulted in the flooding of thousands of homes on both the island and mainland.

After a new inlet that developed due to the breach was eventually closed, a temporary steel wall was erected at the breach site. The permanent wall will run from Lyman Street in Mantoloking south to the southernmost block of Brick at the Toms River border.

The wall will not extend farther south into towns such as Toms River and Lavallette because the risk to Route 35 from ocean breaches is considered less there.

“The Township of Brick is eager to protect the residents and infrastructure of the barrier island, as well as the mainland section of town which was inundated by flooding due to breaches along the Route 35 corridor,” said Brick Mayor John G. Ducey, in a statement.

The DEP has completed state environmental reviews for its project design, and entered into future maintenance agreements with Mantoloking and Brick townships, the agency said Monday. Right-of-way easements also have been secured so the project can move forward.


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