The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District (USACE) is pleased to share that it is proceeding with designs for Phase I of the Camp Ellis Beach Shoreline Damage Mitigation Project. Phase I of the recommended plan includes the construction of a 750-foot-long stone spur jetty and once constructed, will be followed by placement of beach fill (Phase II) along Camp Ellis Beach.

Design and construction of this project comes after many years of study and coordination, and it is the district’s intent to advertise a construction contract as soon as possible. The schedule for construction is dependent upon finalization of plans and specifications, which are well underway, and availability of funding for construction. 

The plan was originally approved in April 2019 when USACE completed a Final Decision Document and Environmental Assessment (DD&EA) for the project recommending a 750-foot-long stone spur jetty and beach fill. The scope of the project was limited to keep costs below the $26.9 million Federal cost limit established in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007.  However, Sec. 8342 of WRDA 2022 struck language provided in WRDA 2007 and updated the authority to allow for federal participation in post-construction beach renourishment, increase the cost limit to $45M, and removed the non-federal cost-sharing requirement.

After the passage of WRDA 2022, New England District updated decision documents and environmental coordination and executed a project partnership agreement with the City in December of 2023. This allowed USACE to proceed with designs for the project.

Since then, we have conducted critical wave modeling which has informed the design of the spur jetty. We are quickly approaching the 65% design milestone. We are pleased to provide this update on this very critical project.  Questions may be directed to the New England District Public Affairs Office via email at: cenae-pa@usace.army.mil or by phone at: (978) 793-6932.

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