was a good decision. It was a big plus for the project, the residents, and the environment." As part of the defense surrounding Port Monmouth, pump stations, road closures and a tide gate at Pews Creek were constructed. A pump station pumps or drains water from low lying land and tide gates allow water to flow freely under normal conditions and close automatically to prevent flood waters from flooding a community. When these were being constructed, the community expressed concern about the costs of operating and maintaining this system. Gentile said, "For the tide gate and pump station structure, we provided the community training and testing of the system, so that they would feel more comfortable in taking the system over." Rogers said, "We met when it was high tide and the Army Corps ex - plained to us how the tide gates work during a storm at high tide. All of us were pleased with the explanation. In fact, all of the meetings I've attended were always run very professionally and the Army Corp is always well prepared. At the end of them all, we come to resolutions that have been in the best interest of all of those involved." Gentile added, "It is important to consider and promptly address the requests and feelings for all the people involved with the project, including the residents, partnering agencies, and utility companies, counties, and municipalities to allow the projects to move forward as smooth as possible." If anyone values how the Army Corps works with communities, it's life-long Port Monmouth resident, Rogers who has experienced many storm events over his lifetime. Rogers said, "During the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, my father placed me on his shoulders and walked through four feet of water to take me to my grandmother's house, during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the area was evacuated, and my entire family were transported by the U.S. Coast Guard via an amphibious vehicle to the firehouse to safety, and during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, my house was flooded and we lost a lot. Without the help of the Army Corps, flood prone areas would never receive the protection needed to keep property and residents safe." The Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management Project is expected to be completed in 2023 and is designed to provide flood protection that can withstand another Hurricane Sandy.
the public access to the beach area. This satisfied the public, residents and the condo association." As part of this work, the Army Corps also extended a fishing pier by 195 feet, expanding on the area's recreational use by the community. Presently, work is being accomplished to create a line of defense sur - rounding Port Monmouth. This work includes constructing a concrete floodwall – the length of almost 22 football fields – to reduce flooding from two creeks – Pews Creek to the west and the Compton Creek to the east. A floodwall is a vertical barrier designed to temporarily contain the waters of a river or other waterway which may rise to unusual levels during seasonal or extreme weather events. The project also includes a 7,070-foot levee system that is the length of almost 20 football fields. A levee is an embankment designed to prevent flooding. In order for the levee to do this, it needs a strong soil foundation to sup - port it. The land in the area is made up of low-lying salt and freshwater marsh that is not strong and very saturated. To strengthen this soil, the Army Corps used an environmentally friendly soil stabilization process called Situ Soil Stabilization. This process strengthens the soil – by mixing it with cement and water– so that it can hold up a levee system. "Typically, we would dig up the marshy soil and haul it out and truck in new soil," said Gentile. "By doing this process, we eliminated the need for over 1,750 tri-axle trucks trips, carrying wet, mucky, and odorous material, through residential streets, as well as saved a great deal of money." The community was consulted about this before this process was used. Rogers said, "When this process was put on the table, we thought it Groin at the Port Monmouth Flood Risk Management Project. Photo: USACE
DR. JOANNE CASTAGNA is a Public Affairs Specialist and Writer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. She can be reached at joanne.castagna@usace.army.mil.
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June 2021
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