First phase of Port Monmouth flood project completed

By ADAM C. UZIALKO
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN – The first of three phases of a five-year flood control project funded by the Congressional Sandy aid bill passed in 2013, has been completed in time for Fourth of July weekend.

The first phase of the $104 million Port Monmouth Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project included beach replenishments, dune construction, the extension of an existing fishing pier and the construction of a 305-foot groin to impede water flow and limit sediment movement.

The first phase accounts for $18 million of the total project, which is designed to offer storm protection to the low-lying Port Monmouth community in Middletown Township.

“The Port Monmouth flood control project will protect homes and businesses in our area from future flooding,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) said at a June 29 press conference.

“Port Monmouth, like so many other coastal New Jersey communities, faced serious flooding during hurricane Sandy. All along the Bayshore, flooding has become an increasingly common phenomenon as severe storms have become more frequent and residential and commercial development has increased.

“This project strengthens our local infrastructure, reduces the risk of future flood damage and will keep our community safe.”

Phase two of the project, which will be split up into five separate contracts, will include the construction of pump stations at Pews Creek and Compton Creek, tide gates, floodwalls, flood gates and drainage structures, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The second phase is also expected to include 4,352 feet of floodwalls and 7,275 feet of levees, each providing protection up to 13 feet above sea level.

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, according to plans created by the Army Corps.

Project Manager David Gentile said the target date of completion is 2019, a year earlier than previously expected. The Army Corps estimates that the entire project will cost $104,691,819, which will be provided entirely by the federal government.

“Design contracts [for the second phase] have gone out, but actual construction contracts are expected to go out in the first half [of 2016,]” Gentile said in an interview. He added that construction on the second phase would likely begin in the summer of 2016.

Similar projects that could have prevented significant storm damage to Bayshore towns were delayed for more than a decade by a lack of funding.

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.

Superstorm Sandy damaged more than 750 Port Monmouth homes, about 200 of which were considered substantially damaged and in need of demolition.

In January 2014, following the passage of the Congressional Sandy aid package, the Army Corps entered into a partnership agreement with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, which will help to fund the upkeep of the improvements following construction.

Actual construction of the project will be fully-federally funded, replenishment of the improvements will be split between the federal government and the DEP and all operating and maintenance costs are the responsibility of the DEP.