Mr. Bailey (L) and Mr. delCampo in front of a photo of the metal barrier as seen on the South End. PG photo from the 4/6 town meeting

By Paul Goldfinger, MD , Editor@Blogfinger

Bill Bailey and Ralph delCampo reviewed the current status of beachfront recovery during a slide show presentation at the town meeting Saturday.  Their discussion  included some fascinating and little-known engineering details.  Using aerial photography and photos of the current work sites to illustrate, they said that they hope to have Phase One done by Memorial Day.  The project includes the opening of one third of the fishing pier  (167 feet).  That part of the  pier will be restored with safety and security in mind.   There will be benches, railings, boardwalk , flower urns and lighting. Ultimately they pledged that the entire fishing pier, which has historic origins going back to the 1800’s, will be completely rebuilt.

At the South End, the offices will be reconstructed, and new composite boardwalk surfacing will be placed around the offices to hook  up with sections of boardwalk that were not destroyed by the storm.  You can visit that area to see what the entire boardwalk will look like in the future.  Mr. Bailey invited all Grovers to come to the site and watch the progress.   The American Fence Company of Whitehall, Pa. will be installing railings  there.  The gentleman who owns that company has been vacationing in the Grove for many years and he wants to give back.  Access ramps and stairs have been built using wood reclaimed after Sandy.

The reason that some areas of boardwalk were spared to the north and south is the presence of protective walls made of rubble or metal vertical corrugated sheathing  that were placed after a major storm in 1953.  Those barriers are also credited with helping to reduce damage to the town itself.  The new plans want to take advantage of that observation.

The history of those barriers, which helped to save Ocean Grove during Sandy, is that a vicious storm hit in 1953, and Camp Meeting Association leaders at that time, decided to do something more than just rebuild the boardwalk.  The rubble wall extends from just south of the Pavilion north to Seaview Avenue.  It is an 8-12 foot wall which can be likened to a jetty on land.  It is ordinarily covered by dunes.

The metal vertical sheathing  is visible in part over by the beach offices.  It continues north to embrace the entire length of the beach, but the middle section of the boardwalk was east of that metal wall and thus was demolished by Sandy due to the fact that it had no barrier protection. That is why the middle section of the boardwalk will eventually be rebuilt to the west  of that metal protective barrier.

Old records show that a portion of the metal sheathing had deteriorated in the early 1990’s and had been repaired at the south end.  The metal is protected from corrosion by being under the sand, but  it will not last forever.  The condition of the rest of the metal wall is currently undetermined. It would have to be excavated to find out, but there are no plans to do so except it will be assessed  in the middle when the work there is finally done.

At the North End, the plan now is to create a temporary 8 foot wide asphalt walkway which will stretch from Seaview to the Casino. Note that the Casino is the property of Asbury Park, and they are responsible for its restoration. Currently the Casino is closed .  The building at the North End, on the beach, is privately owned, but the owner is expected to restore that structure as they did after the 1993 n’oreaster which caused more damage than we see now.

The “middle beach” boardwalk site will temporarily consist of sand with paths to the beach, much as they have at the Florida beaches, Long Beach Island and at Sandy Hook.

As for the beach, our sand losses are considered to be relatively minor. According to Bill Bailey, the CMA Director of Operations, the beach project is called “Sandy Relief” and involves sand replenishment by the Army Corps of Engineers according to a plan which will return shore beaches to “exactly” what they were like before the storm. The engineers have before and after satellite photographs to use for comparison.  Mr. Bailey said, “In comparison to other shore towns, we haven’t lost much beach at all.”  Every May, “very large equipment is brought into the Grove to move the sand around.”  That will be done this May as well. The piles at the North End will be sifted and then “put back.”

Currently we have “winter berms” on the Ocean Grove beach.   The plan includes restoring the permanent dunes including the beach grasses.  Recently the CMA had a “dune expert” walk the OG beach with Mr. Bailey.  The CMA also has had the ability to consult with the Township engineer Mr. Peter Avakian who was present and who was credited with being helpful through the entire restoration planning process.

Regarding the Great Auditorium, the roof project requires custom made zinc-coated stainless steel materials.  There is only one company who can manufacture that roofing, and, after some delay on their part, will be making the delivery, hopefully,  later this month—then the installation can begin. Meanwhile the roof is protected, and the Great Auditorium sustained no structural damage from the storm. A number of contractors were credited for helping to quickly close the GA after Sandy, including Mr. Jack Green and the Gannon Co, both of Ocean Grove.   Mr. Bailey said, “We are so thankful for all the help we received.”