Sandy Hook Sand Slurry Pipeline

The Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area has for the past several years been pursuing and evaluating practical alternatives for providing a long term beach maintenance program. While several beach replenishment projects have been conducted in recent years, a cyclic maintenance program is needed to offset the annual sand loss in the area known as the Critical Zone. The maintenance program will allow the park to provide continued recreational opportunities, protect natural and cultural resources, protect existing facilities and infrastructure, and maintain vehicular access to the park.

The National Park Service proposes a sustainable sand recycling system in the form of a sand slurry pipeline as the preferred alternative. The pipeline would allow sand to be borrowed from the northern, accreting portion of Sandy Hook and pumped to the eroding southern beaches. This system minimizes adverse environmental affects by moving smaller quantities of sand, typical of the volumes that would be moved under natural conditions.

Document Content:

Sand Slurry Pipeline Environmental Assessment   (390.7 KB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.