A side benefit of the latest channel dredging project overseen by the New Jersey Department of Transportation will result in shoreline stabilization and habitat enhancement for Boot Island; a barrier island near Atlantic City.
[Above photo by New Jersey DOT]
The $1.8 million Brigantine Channel Spur dredging project, conducted by New Jersey DOT contractor Mobile Dredging & Video Pipe Inc., will restore safe navigation to the Brigantine Channel Spur by lowering the channel’s authorized project depth down to five feet below mean low water.
The approximately 22,000 cubic yards removed as a result of that dredging work will then be transported via pipeline to improve Boot Island’s habitat: part of a series of coastal habitat restoration projects using Beneficial Use of Dredged Material or BUDM across three wildlife management areas in southern New Jersey.
[Editor’s note: New Jersey DOT has overseen several similar dredging projects along the Atlantic City coastline, including one to restore the St. George’s Thoroughfare in 2025.]
According to the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife, those projects aim to enhance coastal resilience, restore degraded marsh habitats, and support both species of greatest conservation need and popular game species managed under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration nexus through “nature-based solutions,” which includes BUDM.
In a statement, the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife said BUDM repurposes clean sediment from navigation channels to restore degraded coastal habitats – particularly critical for New Jersey, as many saltmarshes are experiencing net habitat loss due to sea-level rise and erosion.
By strategically placing dredged sediment to raise marsh elevations, BUDM helps restore proper tidal inundation, promotes the growth of native saltmarsh vegetation, and enhances habitat resilience, the agency said.
