AVALON – Under almost all circumstances, normal practice is that public construction projects are completed before Independence Day, or they are stopped and resumed in the fall.
The Eighth Street jetty project will be allowed to extend three weeks into July. Avalon Borough Council agreed to the extension at its June 24 meeting, after Borough Engineer Thomas Thornton described the remaining work as “low intensity” and unlikely to be a great disruption to beachgoers.
The jetty was damaged during Winter Storm Jonas, in 2016. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds were sought and secured by the borough for repairs. A subsequent side-sonar examination of the jetty showed even more damage than originally thought. Once again, the borough was successful with FEMA and federal funds for the project, which now amounts to $4 million.
The work on the jetty has gone well, and mild weather allowed it to proceed faster than anticipated. Plans for the contractor to demobilize before July 4 and then remobilize in September were approved early in the project, with an expected cost of $600,000. Now, that money will not have to be spent.
The contractor was able to remove much of the heavy equipment and has approximately two weeks of stonework and one week of site restoration remaining in the project. Allowing the contractor to proceed saves money, according to Thornton.
The project will close down for the Independence Day holiday and resume for the three weeks allotted for completion of work.
Council Vice President John McCorristin favored getting the project completed in July for another reason, as well. The work of the jetty will “have time to settle,” McCorristin said, before the typical fall and winter storm period.
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