BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Results are already showing from the Jersey shore’s rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.

Much work still remains, but partial access to Berkeley Township’s Island Beach State Park resumed on Friday for the first time since the October storm hit.

Island Beach officials said its sand dunes saved the park from further destruction. “The entire dune blew through and this area was nothing but sand. It was about two feet deep,” Island Beach State Park administrator Ray Bukowski told CBS New York. “Gives you the perspective of what happens when a storm takes out a dune.”

The Asbury Park Press reported that Island Beach Park is open from the north end down to Ocean Beach area 1, the first beach pavilion and parking lot, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Bukowski said they would progress further south with cleanups, and be fully ready by summer.

Seven feet of sand drifts had to be cleared from the road running through the park as part of cleanup. Half of a dozen park buildings were damaged, and about three of those sustained severe damage. Part of a jetty at Barnegat Inlet saw its rocks knocked into the water from the hurricane.

Governor Christie’s vacation home survived Hurricane Sandy. Christie said, according to NorthJersey.com, “While there is still much work to be done, we know that having even partial access to the park is important to residents and visitors.”

According to an Associated Press report on NBC New York, Island Beach State Park was closed until last weekend when volunteers came in to place old Christmas trees along the shoreline to trap blowing sand and form new sand dunes. The park could not be reopened until Seaside Park and Berkeley Township lifted states of emergency.

The ten-mile Island Beach is the biggest public barrier beach park on the New Jersey coast.