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Long Branch, NJ --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) announced today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to use $140,000 in federal funds to dredge the Shark River during a seven day period in November. The New Jersey congressman had repeatedly requested that the Army Corps provide the funding to do the work as soon as feasible.
Pallone said extensive dredging is needed to remove shoals (sediment buildup at the bottom of the river that decreases the water's depth) that continue to build up near the inlet, making it dangerous for boats that travel the popular river every day.
In May, a party boat struck a jetty while it was on its way back into the Belmar Marina, causing damage to the hull and some minor injuries to passengers on board. After the accident, the New Jersey congressman received numerous calls from residents and local officials concerned that shoaling was once again building up in the inlet, and may have even been responsible for the accident.
"This extensive dredging project should eliminate any shoaling that remains in the Shark River so that boaters can continue to confidently travel this popular waterway without any concern of hitting a shoal," Pallone said.
The New Jersey congressman said the Army Corps completed the engineering and design phase earlier this year for the first extensive dredging of the river in three years. Back in January 2003, 20,000 cubic yards of sand was taken from the bottom of the channel, taken from shoals located in the entrance to the inlet and a portion of the main channel east of the entrance to the yacht basin.
While large-scale dredging work has not taken place since 2003, the Army Corps removed, at Pallone's request, areas of shoaling near the mouth of the Shark River Inlet that posed a hazard to boaters in December 2005. According to the Army Corps, it removed 2,500 cubic yards of sand in order to eliminate the shoaling. |
