On the morning of Friday, October 2, Avalon Business Administrator Scott Wahl stood on the 14th Street beach and photographed the active work zone. The dredge "Delaware" sat offshore in Townsends Inlet, pumping sand south along the beachfront. As of that day, 663,003 cubic yards of new sand had been placed on the north end beaches. The full project calls for more than 900,000.
The figure that tells you more is the calendar. In July, the plan had this work finishing in mid-November. Now it is expected to wrap up around October 12. That head start shaped everything else this fall: which beach paths were closed and when, how the late-September storm played out, and what kind of north end will be there for the borough's dune grass planting two weeks after the dredge leaves.
The July Schedule Said November
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a pre-construction meeting in Avalon on July 27, 2026. Mayor John McCorristin, council members Chet Johnson and Barbara Juzaitis, and Wahl attended for the borough. The estimate that day called for equipment on the beach around September 14, pumping starting September 20, and an Avalon finish on or about November 14. The holdup was Strathmere. Norfolk Dredging was using the same dredge on a separate job there, and Avalon's work couldn't start until that one was done.
Strathmere went faster than expected. By August 11 the borough was reporting that pumping might start at 9th Street before Labor Day weekend. Here is how the schedule moved over the summer:
| Borough update | Pumping start | Avalon finish |
|---|---|---|
| July 27 | About September 20 | About November 14 |
| August 18 | About September 5 | About October 12 |
| October 1 | Underway, 646,672 cubic yards placed | About October 12, weather and equipment permitting |
By September 12 the borough described the project as "ahead of schedule," with 331,949 cubic yards placed. Two days later the crew set a record of 55,779 cubic yards in 24 hours. On September 19 the job passed 50 percent, at 522,753 cubic yards. The work runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and stops only for rough seas or equipment failure.
A Storm Hit Beaches Already Due for Sand
Rough seas came early. On Sunday, September 20, the borough reported that work had been suspended at 6:00 a.m. because northeasterly winds were expected. The Delaware went to safe harbor in Great Egg Harbor, and the Army Corps planned to resurvey before pumping started again. The dredge sat out a nor'easter that hit the beaches it was rebuilding.
Pumping resumed Monday, September 28, at 6:00 p.m. By then the Avalon Department of Public Works had closed beach paths from 18th to 21st Streets because of significant erosion. Paths from 22nd to 26th Streets were closed temporarily until crews could make them safe. In its October 2 survey report on the storm, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection noted significant erosion on Avalon's sloped beaches, dune scarping up to 10 feet, and damage to crossovers and fencing around 22nd Street, where beach-fill work was underway.
The schedule change mattered here. In late September, under the July plan, the dredge would barely have started at 9th Street. Instead the storm-damaged blocks from 18th to 23rd Streets were just ahead of a crew already at work. The borough's September 28 update said those beaches "are scheduled to receive new sand during the beach fill project which resumes this week." By October 1, the dredge was working at 15th through 17th Streets and moving south toward those closed blocks.
Beach Paths, Block by Block
The project closes about 1,000 feet of beach at a time and reopens each section once it is rebuilt. The work moves from north to south. Here is where things stood in the borough's October 2 update, the latest one captured:
- 9th to 14th Streets: filled earlier in the project. Every beach north of 14th Street had been pumped by September 20.
- 15th to 17th Streets: closed by Norfolk Dredging as the active work area.
- 18th to 23rd Streets: closed by Public Works after the storm, with new sand coming in this project.
- 24th to 26th Streets: paths reopened September 28.
- Everything else: open to the public. Lifeguards are off duty for the season.
The borough says the dredge will keep heading south to about 25th Street. The Army Corps' contract notice gives the Avalon placement area as 9th to 28th Streets. If you use a path near 25th to 28th Streets, the borough's field updates are the better guide to what is actually happening on your block. One more access point will see heavy equipment after the sand is down. The 20th Street path is how Norfolk Dredging brought its trucks and equipment onto the beach, and the borough says the same path will be used to take everything off when the project ends.
Path status changes quickly near the end of a job like this. The borough posts updates on its beach fill project page, and its homepage showed a new entry dated October 9 saying the project "is entering its final stages."
What the New Beach Is Built to Do
The Army Corps describes the work as pumping sand into "an engineered dune and berm template." It also notes that while dunes and access paths are repaired in some areas, "most of the work includes widening the beach between the toe of the dune and the water line." In practice, the biggest change on the north end next summer should be a wider stretch of sand between the dune and the surf.
The Army Corps' June 5 contract announcement puts the contract at $15.8 million. It calls the work a joint effort of the Corps, NJDEP, and the boroughs of Avalon and Stone Harbor. Avalon's own updates say its part, $15.7 million, is paid entirely with federal money and has no local cost share. The borough says the project followed "repeated, significant coastal storms that begin in August, 2025 and continued through the winter." All four bid options were awarded: dune crossovers, post-and-rail fence, and dune grass planting are all part of the contract.
October 24 at Avalon Community Hall
The contract includes its own dune grass planting. The borough also runs a volunteer planting every fall, and this year's is two weeks after the dredge's expected finish. The Fall Dune Grass Planting is Saturday, October 24, at 8:30 a.m., starting at Avalon Community Hall. The rain date is October 25. Volunteers watch a planting demonstration first and then head to the beach. The borough's event notice invites groups, organizations, and families, and you register by calling the Avalon Department of Recreation at (609) 967-3066. The borough's general description of the event promises a short tutorial and a bagged light lunch, and says volunteers young and old are welcome.
For a sense of scale, the Seven Mile Times once reported on a fall planting where 30 people put in more than 10,000 plumes at 34th Street after the Community Hall demonstration. The 2026 notice doesn't say which beach this year's volunteers will plant, or whether it will be the new dunes from the fill. Ask when you call to register.
The rest of the month stays near 30th Street. The Avalon Arts & Seafood Festival runs Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit Avalon lists it at Surfside Park, 30th Street and the beach, with seafood, artisan vendors, live music, kids' activities, and beach hayrides. The Recreation calendar lists it at the parking lot at 30th Street and Avalon Avenue, with an October 11 rain date. The same calendar has Trunk or Treat in that lot on the evening of October 24, from 5 to 7 p.m., so a volunteer who plants in the morning can be back for it that night. Borough-wide trick-or-treating in Avalon and Stone Harbor is Saturday, October 31, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Where the Delaware Goes Next
When Avalon's work is done, the project moves south to Stone Harbor. There the sand will come from Hereford Inlet instead of Townsends Inlet. The Army Corps plans about 538,867 cubic yards for Stone Harbor in two areas: 98th to 114th Streets, and 120th Street to the terminal groin. Other spots may get sand depending on pre-construction surveys.
Townsends Inlet has its own sand problem, and the beach fill doesn't address it. In late August, OCNJ Daily reported on a large sandbar at the south end of Sea Isle City. The Coast Guard had set out guide buoys, and nobody was sure who was responsible for clearing it, because Townsends Inlet is not a designated federal navigation channel. On September 27, the Cape May County Herald reported that Avalon is pushing an effort to get the inlet dredged. It described serious trouble for boats going through the inlet and under the bridge between Sea Isle and Avalon. No dredging schedule has been announced.
If you own on the north end and want to understand what a wider beach and rebuilt dunes mean for your property, Dorothy Phillips follows these projects block by block and can walk you through it. Get a free home valuation that accounts for the beach in front of your house as it stands this fall.
