{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=360623", "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Breaks Ground on $25M Project to Repair Southern Monmouth Beaches", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The long-awaited $25 million beach southern Monmouth County replenishment project kicked off today with a ground-breaking ceremony on Manasquan Beach. Hurricane Sandy caused severe beach erosion along the five-mile stretch of the project. The massive beach re-nourishment work to repair and restore the beach to better than pre-Sandy conditions starts tomorrow. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI was here on this very beach in the days after the storm with Mayor Dempsey and his team and it was a near unimaginable scene of destroyed homes, broken gas lines and crumbled debris,\u201d Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said. \u201cThe beach was gone. Today and over the next four months of this project, the Corps will rebuild these beaches and the lives of the people from Manasquan, as well as Sea Girt, Spring Lake, and Belmar.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Joining the Congressman on the beach was Anthony Ciorra,\u00a0Chief of Coastal Restoration & Special Projects Branch, and Paul Jalowski, Project Engineer, both of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from the USACE Region II (New York District). Present from the Borough of Manasquan were Mayor George Dempsey, Council President Ed Donovan, Councilman Owen McCarthy, Councilman Joe Bossone, Councilman Gregg Olivera, Councilman Mike Sinneck\u00a0\u00a0and Borough Attorney Mark Kitrick. Also present was J.C. Krause, Division Manager of The Dutra Group of San Rafael, Ca., the contracting company which has been putting in place heavy construction equipment over the past several days. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The total cost of the project is $25,254,400.\u00a0 The project is funded 100 percent by the federal government through the Army Corps\u2019 Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies (FCCE) account.\u00a0 Dredging will take approximately 125 days to complete.\u00a0 The project will pump roughly 1,500,000 cubic yards of sand onto Manasquan, Sea Girt, Spring Lake and Belmar beaches. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe reconstruction of this project will provide our shore communities and the families who reside along the shore with critical storm, surge and flood protection in the event of future storms,\u201d Smith said. \u201cNew Jersey\u2019s almost 130 miles of coastline was battered by the severe wind, high waves and rising ocean.\u00a0 But we know that in most areas where the Army Corps of Engineers implemented beach re-nourishment projects, there was less damage than those where they did not. Where the Corps built higher berms, they held back the water. Where there were low dunes, the water came flooding in.\u00a0 The damage to houses, businesses and other infrastructure was significantly less that in towns where similar re-nourishment efforts have not yet begun.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Corps projects proved themselves extremely worthwhile and we need to continue its work and rebuild where feasible.\u00a0 It is not only the right thing for New Jersey\u2019s recovery, it is prudent federal policy,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPreventing flooded homes and businesses is cheaper and more efficient that repairing them after a water breach.\u00a0 As such, it is necessary, cost-effective and justified for the federal government to provide the Corps with emergency funding to finish beach replenishment and flood protection projects.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=360623"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6362390704452991, "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"}