The Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management Project underway in Middletown employs mitigation strategies such as floodgates and sand dunes to protect against damage from storms like superstorm Sandy, which devastated many homes in the neighborhood. FILE PHOTO The Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management Project has begun in Middletown and is projected to extend through 2020, when a complex system of levees, floodgates and pump stations will be in place to protect against storms.
Representatives of the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave a presentation on the project at a Sept. 2 Township Committee meeting.
David Gentile, project manager, said the first phase includes dunes that are 15 feet above sea level and a 195-foot extension of the existing fishing pier.
The initial phase also includes the construction of a groin, a hydraulic structure that interrupts water flow and limits sediment movement at the Bayshore Waterfront Park off Port Monmouth Road.
“The groin will be 305 feet in length with a 13-foot crest,” he said. “It’s about 8,000 tons of rock.”
Phase two, which will be broken up into five separate contracts, is currently in the design phase and will add a number of defenses against future storms.
“Phase two will consist of tide gates, pump stations, levees, floodwalls, road-closure structures, interior drainage structures, as well as a mitigation component,” Gentile said.
The pump stations will be located at Pews Creek and Compton Creek, but the specific hydraulics and sizes of the stations have not yet been finalized.
The second phase is also expected to include 4,352 linear feet of floodwalls and 7,275 linear feet of levees, each providing protection 13 feet above sea level, according to Gentile.
Both the floodwalls and levees require 15 feet of a “vegetative free zone” at the base so that plants and roots do not interfere with maintenance access and damage the structures. Phase two will require the necessary permits and cannot move forward with the application process until 90 percent of the plans have been completed, he said.
According to Gentile, if everything remains on schedule, the entire project should be completed by 2020, but he said that timeline would require “timely decision-making by all stakeholders.”
The Army Corps estimates that the entire project will cost $104,691,819 and be funded entirely by the federal government.
Funded under the Congressional Sandy aid bill passed in 2013, the protective measures will defend the low-lying Raritan Bay community during future storms.
On Jan. 31, the Army Corps entered into a partnership agreement with the DEP, which will help to fund the upkeep of the improvements following construction.
Replenishment of the improvements will be split between the federal government and the DEP, the state sponsor of the project, while all operating and maintenance costs are the responsibility of the DEP.
Township Committeeman Anthony Fiore said it is great to have representatives of the Army Corps and DEP present an overview of the project after nearly two years of engagement with the committee.
Projects that could have prevented significant storm damage to Bayshore towns were delayed for more than a decade by bureaucracy and a lack of funding, according to local and federal officials.
Two Army Corps projects proposed prior to 2000 called for levees, floodwalls and other mitigation infrastructure in Port Monmouth. Neither of those projects had reached the point of construction when the neighborhood experienced substantial flooding during superstorm Sandy.
Middletown officials have been actively pushing for flood controls for more than a decade, according to Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante, but the process kept stalling because projected costs continued to rise.
Superstorm Sandy damaged more than 750 Port Monmouth homes, about 200 of which were considered substantially damaged and in need of demolition.
“It’s sad to me that we needed a Sandy in order to get this project funded,” Mayor Stephanie Murray said at the Sept. 2 committee meeting. “Optimistically, it’s better late than never, and I think we can all have a little bit of relief now that we know this is underway.”