UPDATE: NJ’s Dunes at Shoal Harbor Shoreline is Restored

The Dunes at Shoal Harbor, a coastal residential community in Monmouth County, New Jersey, is situated adjacent to both the Raritan Bay and the New York City Ferry channel.  In July 2018, Princeton Hydro was contracted to restore this coastal community that was severely impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Today, we are thrilled to report that the shoreline protection design plans have been fully constructed and the project is complete.

Rendering of the shoreline protection design	September 2020

In order to protect the coastal community from flooding, a revetment had been constructed on the property many years ago. The revetment, however, was significantly undersized and completely failed during Hurricane Sandy. The community was subjected to direct wave attack and flooding, homes were damaged, beach access was impaired, and the existing site-wide stormwater management basin and outfall was completely destroyed.

July 2018	September 2020

Princeton Hydro performed a wave attack analysis commensurate with a category three hurricane event and used that data to complete a site design for shoreline protection.

The site design and construction plans included:

• The installation of a 15-foot rock revetment (one foot above the 100-year floodplain elevation) constructed with four-foot diameter boulders;

• The replacement of a failed elevated timber walkway with a concrete slab-on-grade walkway, restoring portions of the existing bulkhead, clearing invasive plants, and the complete restoration of the failed stormwater basin and outlet; and

• The development of natural barriers to reduce the impacts of storm surges and protect the coastal community, including planting stabilizing coastal vegetation to prevent erosion and installing fencing along the dune to facilitate natural dune growth.

These measures will prevent shoreline erosion, protect the community from wave attacks and flooding, and create a stable habitat for native and migratory species.

During the final walkthrough earlier this month, the Princeton Hydro team captured drone footage of the completed project site. Click below to watch the video:

For more images and background information on this project, check out the following photo gallery and read our original blog post from July 2018:

For more information about Princeton Hydro’s engineering services, go here.

• Climate Change
• Engineering
• Flood Mitigation
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