Boating & Fishing

Public Info Session on Traders Cove Dredging, Marshland Project to be Held in Brick

by
Daniel Nee
July 2, 2024

Traders Cove Marina, Brick, N.J. (Photo: Shorebeat)

A project that will dredge the area beneath the slips at Traders Cove Marina, the municipal marina owned by Brick Township, is set to begin later this year, mated with a marshland restoration project in partnership with the state and the federal Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Officials announced this week that an information session on the projects will be offered later this month.

The meeting is required under statute, and will seek public comment on the plans.

The public information session will be held July 11, 2024, from 4 – 6 p.m. in the municipal building, 401 Chambers Bridge Road, Brick.

The project includes the “beneficial reuse of dredged material for marsh restoration,” the public notice of the meeting said.

Information will be available at town hall for a minimum of 10 days prior to the meeting in the Division of Engineering and the Township Clerk’s office during the regular business hours (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). The meeting is being held to “solicit public engagement prior to the finalization of the plan/project” and will be presented by Township Engineer Elissa Commins.

The dredging project, at $2.6 million, was the biggest-ticket item in the township’s 2024 capital budget. While technically two projects, the state has dedicated about $5 million toward marshland restoration within the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, which runs from Brick Township to Atlantic County. Current plans call for the area under the slips themselves to be dredged after the boating season, with the sand from the project to be re-used to build up marshlands in the refuge.

Brick is planning to acquire about 3-acres of marshland as a donation. (Photo: Shorebeat LLC)

Salt marshes in Brick Township’s portion of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Jan. 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

The $4,997,124 in restoration funds will place more than 120,000 cubic yards of suitable dredged sediment into a series of 13 “cells” to increase tidal salt marsh elevation, protecting the marsh from drowning. The total area of sediment placement is approximately 95 acres of marsh. The bulk of the marshland in Brick Township is located in an area south of Mantoloking Road, extending for miles from the intersection of Adamston Road, out to the bayfront itself.

The marina dredging is meant to ensure silt and shoaling is not occurring in the area where slips are located and where boaters navigate through the marina itself. It is considered part of the regular maintenance of the marina.