County Kicks Off Wreck Pond Dredging

A $150,000 dredging of a portion of Wreck Pond was kicked off Tuesday at a Route 71 access point site to the troubled waterway.

Dredging begin in earnest next week on the western portion of Route 71 in Wall Township, near the Sea Girt boundary, county officials said. But Freeholders Robert Clifton, Lillian Burry, Amy Mallet and Tom Arnone were joined by Township Committeeman George Newberry and other officials to announce the beginning Wreck Pond Sediment Control Project.

The project, entirely funded by the county, intends to remove years of built-up sediment in the pond, increasing the depth on a western basin from its current six inches to about 2.5 feet, Clifton said at a short conference Tuesday.

About 4,250 cubic yards of sediment will be removed from the pond west of Route  71. The sediment will be taken to the Monmouth County dump in Tinton Falls for use as top fill there, according to John Tobia, head of the county public works department.

“This is going to be a good start,’’ Newberry said of the project. “It’s not going to be the total solution, but it will put things heading in a very positive direction.”

Once the project is fully underway, Tobia said, between 20-30 truckloads of sediment will be trucked away daily. The project is expected to take about three months, Tobia said.

County officials hope the dredging will help alleviate flooding by increasing the capacity of the pond. At the western edge of Route 71, Tobia said there also was going to be a five-foot trench dug, trapping sediment and preventing it from reaching the eastern portion of the pond.

“This is going to make a huge difference for the people in this area,’’ said Assemblyman Dave Rible, who also attended the event.

, for years riddled with sediment, flooding and pollution problems, recently was in part blamed for the intense flooding experienced by many in Spring Lake and other areas during Hurricane Irene.

The dredging project is the second phase of a sediment reduction plan that started last year, county officials said. The first was to install 14 sediment traps around Wreck Pond at strategic locations. That was completed last year, Tobia said.

The project is expected to take about 15 weeks including setup prior and cleanup after.  The actual removal of sediment is expected to take about 38 days. It is being done entirely by county crews, keeping the price tag lower, Tobia said.

“I think it’s a steal at $150,000,’’ Rible said.