The contract was awarded after Margate lost its fight in court to block the project
A beach replenishment project reviled by Margate residents but pushed by state officials is set to start before the end of the year now that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $63.3 million contract for the long-delayed work.
The Army Corps awarded the contract for the Absecon Island project to Weeks Marine Inc. of Cranford to cover about eight miles in Margate and Longport as well as handle touch-up work in Atlantic City and Ventnor, state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials announced on Friday.
Overruling objections by Margate officials to the project, a Superior Court judge in April declared the state could use eminent domain to seize 87 lots owned by the city, clearing the way for the Army Corps to build dunes and widen beaches as part of a massive post-Hurricane Sandy beach replenishment project for New Jersey's 127 miles of oceanfront coastline.
Margate officials had contended the state relied on antiquated data and coastal storm models to justify the work and that there are better ways to prevent oceanfront storm damage.
But state officials convinced Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez in Atlantic County, did not agree with Margate's argument and let the project proceed.
"This project is vital to the protection of homes, businesses, lives and infrastructure in these Atlantic County communities," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said.
Martin called the project "an important part of the Christie Administration's integrated strategy to make our economically vital shore communities more resilient by protecting them from storms and flooding."
Dune project to protect 8 miles of beach
Under the terms of the Absecon Island contract, crews will widen Atlantic City's beach to 200 feet and build dunes to nearly 15 feet above sea level there.
Ventnor, Margate and Longport will get 100-foot wide beaches and dunes of nearly 13 feet above sea level.
The contract amount could increase slightly depending on how much sand is needed in a particular location, said Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman.
The plan calls for more than 3.8 million cubic yards of sand to be pumped from offshore onto the beaches of the four towns between Brigantine Inlet and Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The work is expected to be finished by October 2017.
The work includes construction of public access dune crossovers, the placement of sand fencing, planting of dune grass and the repair or extension of existing storm water outfall pipes and drainage structures.
In another beach replenishment project, Weeks Marine was the lowest bidder for a contract to be awarded for the long-awaited and controversial replenishment of the northern Ocean County peninsula.
Weeks Marine proposed handling the job for $128.82 million.
Illinois-based Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. bid $151.86 million and Seattle-based Manson Construction Co. bid $178.41 million, said Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the Army Corps' Philadelphia district.
The Army Corps has yet to award that contract but has said it wants the work -- from Mantoloking to Berkeley -- to start early next spring. The Corps carved out Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach from the initial phase of that project because of ongoing lawsuits against the work.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.