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A rare component of World War I era artillery round was discovered along the Loch Arbour and Allenhurst beaches during the ongoing Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet Beach Erosion Control project could be dangerous to the public, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Christopher Gardner said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The C-battery size, brass projectiles [known as boosters] are not bombs but may still contain aged explosives, he said. The boosters connected a fuse to the explosives in an artillery round.

“It’s not a bomb but it’s definitely not a toy,” said Gardner, “While the boosters [shown above] are not armed, they may contain aged explosives and should not be handled by the public.

Gardner said this is the first time the munitions have been discovered along the Jersey Shore and attributes its floatable brass makeup as a reason for the detection.

“Normally munitions stay at the bottom,” Gardner said. “Their unique composition appeared to cause them to float to the top of and ultimately bypass screening mechanisms which are in place to prevent items related to munitions from reaching the beach.”

Close to 90 boosters were found along a 2,000- to 2,500-foot stretch of Loch Arbour and Allenhurst beaches.

Gardner said open areas of the municipal beaches have been swept and metal detectors were used to discover any buried boosters one to two feet below the surface.

At a later date, a more intrusive investigation of the shoreline is expected to temporally close small portions of the beach in order to remove top layers of the sand.

Loch Arbor and Allenhurst are among the last remaining beaches to receive beach replenishment following the October 2012 Superstorm Sandy devastation.

Manson Construction Company is charged with reconstructing the beaches, storm water outfalls and implement modifications to existing jetties along a 3.5 mile area from Elberon to Loch Arbour. The $38 million project will result in 4.45 million cubic yards of sand being pumbed along the shoreline.

To date, roughly 350,000 cubic yards of sand has been placed along the Loch Arbour and Allenhurst shoreline, Gardner said. The initial beach surface sweep and removal of items is expected to be complete by Memorial Day.

The public is asked to avoid contact with these or any suspect item. Any citing should be reported to a lifeguard, if available, police or other local official, Gardner said.

[Photo above provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers]

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