The DEP has announced that Little Egg Inlet is being dredged to provide both a safe channel and restored beaches and dunes in southern Long Beach Island. Little Egg Inlet is one of the widest inlets in New Jersey, and is extremely dynamic with shoals constantly shifting with the seasons.  It provides access to the Little Egg Harbor portion of Barnegat Bay and Great Bay. The channel has never been dredged. Over the years, the Coast Guard would mark the safest natural channel through the inlet. In March 2017, the Coast Guard removed navigational buoys because shoaling was so severe that no safe channel could be marked. The Little Egg Inlet project will clear a mile-long portion of the previously marked channel that is 24 feet below mean sea level, using this sand to restore beaches in Beach Haven and Holgate on Long Beach Island. The Dredge Texas is working in conjunction with two large booster pumps to pump sand onto beaches. Sand replacement work began near Susan Avenue in Holgate and is working north toward Beach Haven. Work has progressed to the area near Jeffries Avenue in Beach Haven. Work in Beach Haven will take about two more weeks, depending on weather. Upon completion of work in Beach Haven, the dredge will begin operations near Rosemma Avenue in the Holgate section of Long Beach Township and will work southward to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge border. Pumping in this section should take about three weeks. Depending on weather, the expectation is that all work and demobilization will be completed by mid-March. In total, some 700,000 cubic yards of sand will be moved from the inlet to the beaches, with an option to move an additional 300,000 cubic yards if necessary. Each of the municipalities will be re-establishing sand fences, crossovers, and dune grass once the contract work and demobilization is completed. DEP PHOTO: Southern LBI project area