A bulkhead that fronts a Brick Township neighborhood is in desperate need of replacement – and it’s coming – but the temperatures must be warmer first.
The vista at the end of Rochester Drive has spectacular, unspoiled views of nearly all angles of Barnegat Bay, but the bulkhead is in poor shape. Its replacement is one of five such projects the township will undertake this year, but the condition of the bulkhead is such that half the street must be removed in order to complete the installation.
The township would have been able to install the bulkhead now, but because asphalt plants in New Jersey are closed due to cold weather, it would have left the street half ripped up, Mayor John Ducey said.
“If we did it [now], it would be without half a road straight through until April when the asphalt plants open again,” he said. “Half of the road is going away and will need to be repaired afterward.”
Presently, the bulkhead is being reinforced by a number of temporary concrete blocks, and gravel is strewn about the street. The township will fix both of those issues during the replacement project.