MIDDLE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) On both sides of New Jersey, dump trucks are depositing sand and bulldozers are racing against time to spread it out.
Along the ocean, the goal is to restore beaches destroyed by Superstorm Sandy before the tourists arrive. But along Delaware Bay, the beaches need to be ready before the endangered shore birds arrive.
A potential environmental crisis looms that could further deplete the number of already endangered shore birds that depend on beaches along the state's western coast as a stopover in their South America-to-Arctic migration.
The October storm that caused so much devastation along the ocean also pounded the bay's coast, flooding homes and washing away beaches. It is those lost beaches that could spell disaster for species such as the red knot, a bird already on New Jersey's endangered species list and one that's been proposed for inclusion on the federal list.
Red knots and other shore birds land on Delaware Bay beaches by the hundreds of thousands each May, gorging themselves on horseshoe crab eggs to fatten up for the second half of their arduous 10,000-mile migration to Canada. But Sandy washed away about 70 percent of the beaches where horseshoe crabs lay their eggs and where the birds pig out each spring.
New Jersey environmental officials and private ecological groups are teaming up to restore the beaches, racing against time to truck tons of new sand in, spread it around and haul away obstructions such as old, wrecked bulkheads and pilings that keep crabs from reaching their breeding sands.
"If we don't do something about the sand in these places, we're looking at a potentially catastrophic effect on the shore birds when they arrive in May," said Larry Niles, a wildlife biologist supervising the work.
The project started March 18 and will cost more than $900,000 from a mix of public and private sources. Its first phase should be done by late April.
A second phase will involve establishing oyster reefs just offshore to protect the shallow water in which horseshoe crabs spend significant time. The reefs are designed to absorb some of the force of waves before they reach the shore, cutting down on erosion and minimizing stress on the crabs.
Much of the work is centered on a 5.5-mile stretch of bay beaches between Middle Township and Maurice River Township in Cape May County. Tons of sand is being trucked in to Kimbels Beach in Middle Township, which lost most of its sand. The plan is to add a 2-foot-tall beach about 50 feet wide; metal markers 10 yards out into the bay indicate how far east the new sand will eventually be piled.
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