Residents of Ortley Beach are concerned about a lack of sand on portions of the beach. Iphone video by Jean Mikle

The beach in front of the Golden Gull condominiums in Ortley Beach(Photo: Jean Mikle)

TOMS RIVER - Ortley Beach residents have raised the alarm about the lack of sand on the beach in certain spots in the oceanfront neighborhood, saying they're concerned that the next storm could bring flooding to the area.

"One more big storm and it could break through there," said Ortley Beach resident Debbie Martin, who lives on Ocean Avenue, across the street from the former site of Joey Harrison's Surf Club and the battered condominiums next-door.

The surf club was destroyed by superstorm Sandy in 2012 and since the demolition, only a small strip of sand stands between the ocean and the roadway. Next to the site of the surf club are condominiums that were wrecked by waves and flooding on the night Sandy struck.

Stairs damaged by a January nor'easter in Ortley Beach(Photo: Jean Mikle)

Martin and Ortley resident Ken Langdon asked the Township Council why Toms River did not dump sand in front of the Golden Gull or at the former surf club site after the fierce nor'easter struck in late January. Langdon is a long-time critic of the township's beach maintenance policies.

The township's contractor, Cardinal Construction, dumped more than 30,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach following the storm.

Township Engineer Robert J. Chankalian said the beach is so narrow in some spots in Ortley that sand dumped there would probably only last one or two high tides before it was washed out to sea. The narrowness of the beach makes it impossible to build dunes in some areas, he said.

"We put as much sand out there as we can," Chankalian said. "We're not going to just throw it away."

He said the large majority of sand placed on the beach after the storm was deposited in Ortley Beach, with only a small amount in the Normandy Beach section.

Sand is replaced Friday afternoon, January 27, 2017, along the coastline at Harding Avenue in Ortley Beach after it was washed away by this weeks Nor'easter.(Photo: THOMAS P. COSTELLO)

"We're just trying to get through nor'easter season," Chankalian said. He added he hopes the beach replenishment work can be completed before next winter.

A $128-million project to expand beaches and build 22-foot dunes from the Manasquan to Barnegat inlets is expected to start this spring and take about 600 days to complete.

The project is expected to start in southern Mantoloking and head south.

Every home in Mantoloking was either damaged or destroyed by superstorm Sandy, which cut an inlet through the town near the Mantoloking Bridge. In Ortley, damage was so extensive that residents dubbed the neighborhood Sandy's "ground zero."

Jean Mikle: (732) 643-4050, jmikle@gannettnj.com

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Ortley Beach residents worry about narrow beaches - Asbury Park Press