Most of Asbury boardwalk to reopen next week
Contract awarded to repair two sections that will remain closed until May 18
Most of the now-closed boardwalk in Asbury Park will reopen next week, and the city council has awarded a contract to repair the remaining two sections that will remain off-limits until May 18.
By a vote of 3-0, the council awarded the repair work at last night’s council meeting to GCS Contractors of Oakhurst in the amount of $249,685, which was the low bid. Mayor Ed Johnson and Councilman Kevin Sanders were not present for the vote.
GCS will begin work Monday on both the south end of the boardwalk near the Casino, and on the south side of Convention Hall, city engineer Joe Cunha said. The remainder of the boardwalk in between will reopen to the public next week, he said.
“The whole middle of the boardwalk is fine,” city manager Terence Reidy told the Sun. “Now that the contract is awarded, the two discrete areas of construction will be cordoned off” with the rest of the boardwalk reopened to the public, he said.
The boardwalk area north of Convention Hall sustained relatively little damage from Hurricane Sandy and has been open for months. The storm damage primarily took place between Convention Hall and the Casino building.
Since the hurricane, city employees have continuously conducted repairs on the boardwalk, Cunha said. More recently, it was determined that the city could take on a significant amount of the work in-house, specifically removing all railings, electrical work, sealing and substructure work, he said.
With that capability, the city substantially reduced the scope of work required by an outside contractor to reopen the remainder of the boardwalk where repairs are still needed. As a result, the bid awarded last night was approximately $350,000 less than a bid previously rejected last month, Cunha said.
GCS will primarily perform permanent surface work near the Casino and temporary surface work near Convention Hall, he said. Weather permitting, the work should be done by May 18, said Cunha.
After the summer, much more intensive repairs will be undertaken on the boardwalk in an amount expected to exceed $2 million, Cunha told the council.
One elected official claimed there was a misperception by the public that little work has been undertaken to repair the boardwalk, while the city had been conducting work in-house all along since the hurricane last year.
“The work has been ongoing,” said Deputy Mayor John Loffredo. “There was work being done consistently since Sandy.”
