BRICK – Herbertsville residents Adam and Beth Rickles and their daughter Abigail Pichardo were enjoying the Brick Reservoir walking path, just days after it reopened to pedestrians on June 9.
The popular 1.6-mile loop had been closed for some 10 months in order to complete a project that involved structural modifications to the 90-acre body of water.
The modifications included stabilizing the sides of the reservoir with a concrete-filled fabric “blanket,” which allowed it to provide significantly more water, bolster the water supply and prevent erosion.
“We were disappointed that it was closed…but it looks great,” Beth said.
“We’re very happy it opened again,” added Adam. “We utilize it a couple of times a month. Aesthetically it doesn’t look like anything has changed, but it looks like they repaved the walking path,” he said.
Abigail, who was pushing her baby in a stroller, said that her husband regularly runs the loop and has been using an indoor treadmill since the path has been closed.
Brick Township Utilities Authority (BTMUA) project manager Alina Quinn and the director of water quality Joe Maggio gave a joint interview after the re-opening.
Quinn said the $8 million project came in on time and slightly under budget. Seacoast Construction Inc. of New Brunswick was the outside contractor for the project, she added.
“A lot of the structural improvements you can’t see because they’re under water right now,” Maggio said.
Prior to this project, the top five feet of the interior of the reservoir was rock being stabilized only with sand.
“We generally, as normal operations, use the top five feet, because we always had concerns that if we went below where the sand was exposed the potential for that to just wash away, and that would expose our liner” Maggio said.
“What this project did was, we laid concrete over the sand going down an additional 15 feet, so now, much like those top five feet that we normally use, now we can use the top 20 feet,” he said.
The reservoir holds just over 850 million gallons and supplies water for Brick Township, the Ramtown section of Howell, Point Pleasant Beach, and supplements the water supply for Point Pleasant Boro and Lakewood.
In addition to the resurfacing of the walking path, other cosmetic improvements made during the closure include rebuilding and painting two onsite informational kiosks, painting the restrooms, and erecting signs commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“This is the most significant improvement we’ve made to our source water system since [the reservoir opened in] 2004,” Maggio said.
Reservoir summer hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Winter hours are the same days, 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. There are two parking lots, one at 811 Herbertsville Road and the other at 2429 Metedeconk Road in Allenwood. The reservoir is closed to the public on Mondays.
Dogs are allowed on the walking path, but they must be leashed.
