TOMS RIVER, NJ—Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick today said replenishment of the storm-battered beaches on the barrier island has begun. Under a contract with Earle Asphalt, the township will work to ensure the beaches, especially the Ortley Beach public beachfront, are ready for the busy upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
“We did not want to start too soon because, in the past, we have had some big storms in the spring that quickly washed the beaches away days after the sand was brought in,” said Mayor Dan Rodrick. “We are also repairing beach ramps, stairs, and dune crossovers that sustained damage this past winter.”
Rodrick said the township could not continue dumping sand on the beach year after year and urged the State of New Jersey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to plan a long-term solution.
“This used to be an inlet. Nature wants it to be an inlet,” Rodrick added. “I suggested a while back that a near-shore reef be constructed a few hundred yards offshore to break the waves before they reach the shoreline. This has proven successful in other parts of the country and around the world in areas that have experienced the same levels of erosion we see in Ortley.”
Adding to natural topography, Ortley Beach was also ground zero in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy directly hit the community. Since the storm and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ initial dune building project, annual erosion has increased in the area each winter.
“As you know, this part of the country gets a lot of nor’easters, offshore tropical storms, and hurricanes each year,” Rodrick added. “If we have some kind of offshore break under the water, it will reduce the energy of the waves hitting the shoreline during these extreme weather events.”
Rodrick noted that in 2023, former Mayor Maurice Hill spent more than $500,000 on beach replenishment at Ortley Beach, only to see the sand washed back out a few weeks later.
