{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413470", "Smith secured $30.2 million from federal infrastructure bill Beach replenishment from Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet to begin in January", "2024-12-18", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Critical beach replenishment work for Jersey Shore towns in the Fourth Congressional District is scheduled to begin next month, announced Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester).\n\n\u201cI am pleased that after several contracting delays, this long-awaited project to restore our beaches that have suffered considerable erosion over the past years is finally moving forward,\u201d said Smith, who secured $30.2 million in federal funding for the project.\n\n\u201cWe have never let up on securing this long-overdue, unjustly delayed project,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThat we have at last received a schedule with real target dates on it gives us great confidence that the desperately needed beach replenishment will finally take place and better protect our beach towns.\n\n\u201cOur shore communities will benefit greatly from the federal assistance and partnership to address significant safety concerns from beach erosion and help blunt damaging effects of major storms,\u201d he said.\n\nThe tentative schedule, which could vary slightly based on weather and sea conditions, entails the following six-to-seven-month construction estimate:\n\n\u00b7 Seaside Heights with taper into Seaside Park: work is estimated to take place in January and February and include 241,000 cubic yards of sand;\n\n\u00b7 Toms River (South): work is estimated to take place in February/March and include 426,000 cubic yards of sand;\n\n\u00b7 Lavallette: work is estimated to take place in March and include 184,000 cubic yards of sand;\n\n\u00b7 Bay Head with taper into Point Pleasant Beach: work is estimated to take place in Spring and include 495,000 cubic yards of sand;\n\n\u00b7 Mantoloking: work is estimated to take place in Spring and include 392,000 cubic yards of sand;\n\n\u00b7 Brick Township: work is estimated to take place in early Summer and include 227,000 cubic yards of sand; and\n\n\u00b7 Toms River (North): work is estimated to take place in Summer and include 135,000 cubic yards of sand.\n\nThe project, which has faced several setbacks, had been in serious jeopardy before Smith intervened in January 2022 and secured the entire federal share\u2014or approximately half of the $73.5 million total cost\u2014from the federal infrastructure bill passed by Congress. The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract in October to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company of Houston, TX.\n\nIn total, the contract calls for dredging and placing 2.1 million cubic yards of sand onto Ocean County beaches. Sand will be dredged from three separate approved borrow areas located offshore of the project area in the Atlantic Ocean. The sand will then be pumped onto the beach and graded into an engineered template, which is designed to reduce damage from coastal storm events.\n\nMost of the base contract work involves widening the beach in eroded areas. In some areas, dunes, beach access paths/crossovers, and sand fencing will be repaired. Dune grass will be planted in areas that undergo repairs.\n\n\u201cI am grateful for the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers\u2014our nation\u2019s premier builders\u2014for getting this project to the finish line,\u201d said Smith, \u201cas well as to their partners at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Ocean County and the municipalities.\u201d\n\nThe beach fill project was initially constructed between 2017-2019 and requires periodic \u201crenourishment\u201d to bring it back to its originally constructed specifications.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413470"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1833240278065205, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}