For as much work that has been done since Sandy to help protect the Jersey Shore from future disastrous storms, some major projects still haven't been completed, leaving residents vulnerable to the next hurricane that scientists say is sure to eventually hit New Jersey.
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With Hurricane Joaquin looming hundreds of miles south in the Atlantic Ocean, bulldozers plodded along the Atlantic coast in Sea Bright on Thursday, plowing sand to plug gaps in a stone-and-concrete sea wall.
All week, that scene had played itself out all along the Jersey Shore as towns tried to quickly erect protective dunes they had hoped would already have been built to guard against the catastrophes brought by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
For as much work that has been done since Sandy to help protect the Jersey Shore from future disastrous storms, some major projects still haven't been completed, leaving residents vulnerable to the next hurricane that scientists say is sure to eventually hit New Jersey.
"We wanted to be prepared," said Toms River administrator Paul Shives, whose town has been pushing up - and trucking in - sand on its Ortley Beach and North Beach sections hit hard by Sandy. "We hoped we would never need it, but it looks like we'll need it."
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They need it because a federal beach replenishment project that was scheduled to be completed last year hasn't even started yet. Towns on that northern Ocean County peninsula had hoped to have wider beaches and taller dunes by now to withstand the ravages
Nowhere are those dunes and wide beaches coveted as much than in Mantoloking, a town along that peninsula that took the worst beating from Sandy. The ocean breached small dunes there in four places, the most major at the foot of the Mantoloking Bridge.
More than 180 of the community's 526 homes either were destroyed by Sandy or had to be demolished because of the extensive damage in Mantoloking. Many homes are still under construction and many oceanfront lots are still blank after the homes there were washed away.
"That's the primary (incomplete project) for the borough of Mantoloking," said Chris Niebling, operations deputy chief for the town. "We can say the beach replenishment needs to be completed because it's in concert with the revetment."
The revetment is a steel wall buried in the sand along the borough's oceanfront. It was designed to protect Route 35, the main thoroughfare along the peninsula, from damage in future storms.
In Sea Bright, residents and officials had hoped work to fill in gaps in a sea wall would have been completed by now. Last year, state officials announced a $8.5 million project to repair the rock wall and fill in the large gaps that acted as funnels for the ocean's storm surge during Sandy.
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But additional federal review of the project has kept work from starting. There had been discussions about a temporary wall - like the steel wall in Mantoloking - but that hasn't occurred before Joaquin became a threat to New Jersey.
Long said that in preparation for this weekend's Nor'easter and for Joaquin next week, crews had to decide whether to push sand up from the beach to fill in those gaps. They didn't want to create a situation - as in Sandy - where a storm surge would bury the streets in sand.
In the end, they decided to build the dunes on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get our sea wall," said Long. "Working through the federal process is cumbersome and lengthy. I wish it could have moved faster and we could have been done."
Like Mantoloking, the Ortley Beach and North Beach sections of Toms River had narrow beaches and skimpy dunes before Sandy and were heavily damaged by the storm.
Shives, the administrator in Toms River, said residents and officials would have felt more secure heading into this weekend if the beach replenishment project for the northern Ocean County peninsula had gotten off the ground.
"That's the critical part. Everybody's frustrated that it isn't getting done sooner," Shives said. "It should have been done a year ago."
Because a large swath of Brick's beaches was reduced to a narrow ribbon by Sandy, that area last year was reinforced with a steel wall that was supposed to be covered with sand during the beach replenishment project that hasn't gotten underway.
Despite Brick work crews' efforts to cover the steel wall with sand, it continues to be exposed by severe erosion, which and renders the rest of the beach useless, said Brick Mayor John Ducey.
"They promised us they would do the steel wall, and within a month or two there would have beach replenishment," Ducey said. "Without that, and other (replenishment) project happening, it's really taking away our beaches. It's gone. The sand's gone."
The Army Corps' replenishment project has been on the books for nearly 20 years but only recently gained steam after getting funding after Sandy.
But opposition to the work by some residents and Jenkinson's Amusements in Point Pleasant Beach has stalled the project. The Army Corps initially said it wouldn't do the work without all the necessary easements signed to turn over portions of the oceanfront property for the construction.
Now, however, the Corps seems to be more amenable to start work in areas where easements have been secured, Shives said. It's now projected that the work will start next year, he said.
He dares to hope.
"That would be great," he said.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
