MORDECAI ARMY CORPS BREAKWATER PROJECT IS OFFICIAL!
The Mordecai Land Trust has officially announced that the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) recommended plan for the Mordecai Island Ecosystem Restoration Project has moved out of feasibility and into the Design and Implementation Phase of the project. Army Corps’ funding from the Federal government was received in December and the Project was officially registered on January 5, 2024. USACE typically anticipates approximately 6 months to move to the next step of signing a Project Partnership Agreement with its two non-Federal partners, Mordecai Land Trust and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to cost share the design and construction phase, in which the cost-share will be 75% Federal/25% non-Federal.
The Recommended Plan for this project consists of a rubble mound breakwater that extends approximately 3,000 linear feet on the western side of Mordecai Island, the placement of approximately 30,000 cubic yards of sand dredged from the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway (NJIWW) and planting marsh vegetation on approximately eleven acres of restored intertidal marsh habitat.
Construction of the offshore breakwater is estimated to be completed in 2025.
The USACE Mordecai Island Project, which is under the Army Corp’s Continuing Authorities Program 1135, has been a continuing project with the USACE, NJDEP, and MLT for twenty years, with changes in NJDEP related to Living shorelines, independent work done by MLT, extensive work by the USACE, and perseverance by all parties involved finally moving the Project forward toward construction. Alex Renaud, Planning Division, USACE, Philadelphia District, has been instrumental in taking the project over the finish line, along with our dedicated non-Federal partners in the NJDEP: Debbie Voelbel, Supervising Environmental Specialist, OCE, and Andrew McTague, Environmental Engineer, OCE.
For more information see the USACE site below:
Recent Comments