Latest news with #WeeksMarine
Axios
23-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Pinellas to spend $126M to nourish storm-battered beaches
Pinellas County commissioners on Tuesday pushed forward a $126 million project to shore up the county's critically eroded beaches. Why it matters: Beach nourishment, the process of dredging and piping in sand to widen and elevate a shoreline, is long overdue on Pinellas' storm-battered barrier islands. "That sand is not just there for the tourists. It's not just there for the beauty aspect of it," Commissioner Chris Latvala said. "It's there to protect infrastructure. It's there to protect people in their homes and livelihoods and lives." Driving the news: Commissioners approved 6-0, with Chair Brian Scott absent, New Jersey-based environmental construction firm Weeks Marine to carry out the project, which is slated to begin this year. The majority of the funding will come from tourism development tax revenue. The project area spans Upham Beach, Sunshine Beach on the northern tip of Treasure Island, and a stretch of Sand Key from Clearwater to Redington Beach, excluding Belleair Shore. Catch up quick: The county project bypasses a years-long stalemate with the Army Corps of Engineers, which since the mid-1990s had handled the bulk of the cost and work to nourish Pinellas beaches every five to seven years. Such projects require workers to temporarily access private land owned by Gulf-front property owners through an agreement called an easement. In recent years, the Corps reinterpreted its own rules and began requiring all property owners within a project area to grant public access to some of their land in perpetuity — and they mandated 100% participation. With efforts to sway the Corps so far unsuccessful, and with new urgency prompted by Hurricane Helene's destructive storm surge, county officials decided to move forward with their own project. Instead of the wide-ranging easements required by the Corps, the county asked residents to sign temporary construction easements that don't mandate public access. The latest: The county still lacks dozens of easements, with the vast majority in Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores and Redington Shores, public works director Kelli Hammer Levy told commissioners at Tuesday's meeting. Workers will skip or partially nourish those areas, she said. Yes, but: The county is still accepting easements and will continue to "right up to the last moment that we can," Hammer Levy said. What's next: Officials will continue to pressure the Corps for a solution, county administrator Barry Burton told commissioners, noting the county can't afford to nourish the beaches regularly.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
Lake Worth Inlet dredging project to close section of North Ocean Boulevard Wednesday
North Ocean Boulevard at Palmo Way will be closed Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as part of the Lake Worth Inlet maintenance dredging and sand forepassing project, the town said in a news release Tuesday. The project's contractor, Weeks Marine, will utilize Palmo Way and North Ocean Boulevard to assemble and deliver heavy machinery to the beach, according to the release. Traffic will be routed to North Lake Way between Mockingbird Trail and Kenlyn Road. Single lane closures will remain as needed after Wednesday until the end of the project, the town said. Traffic signage and personnel are present along North Ocean Boulevard to direct traffic as needed. The dredge is expected to arrive at the inlet towards the end of the week and is expected to begin dredging the first week of March. The E.W. Ellefson, a cutter/suction dredge, is expected to remove approximately 191,000 cubic yards of shoaling material from the entrance channel and the settling basins over two to three weeks, the town said, with operations set to continue 24 hours daily, seven days a week, until completion. Dredge material will be pumped and screened onto the adjacent beach immediately south of the inlet's south jetty. "Forepassing" is the term used to describe the placement of sand further south to support natural transport. For more details or questions or concerns regarding the project, call 561-838-5440 or email pworks@ Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Dredging project to close section of Palm Beach roadway Wednesday
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'A long time coming'; Mexico Beach starts beach nourishment project
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Several agencies celebrated the start of the long-awaited beach nourishment project. Residents of Mexico Beach may be used to the calm, clean shorelines. However, right now, some of their beach has construction going on and it's all due to the first-ever beach nourishment project. Mexico Beach was ground zero for Hurricane Michael in 2018. The category 5 storm destroyed homes, businesses, and the shoreline, displacing more than 400 million cubic yards of sand. Celebrate Black History Month with 'Art from the Heart' exhibit Since then, city officials have been working to restore the shoreline and bring back more week, that vision became reality. 'The goal of this project is to harden the current existing sand dune that we have, as well as push additional sand outward to lengthen Mexico Beach to allow for a barrier of protection for any type of future storms. So therefore, not only the habitat for shorebirds and sea turtles but also our upland structures and our businesses, and our residents' homes, they are protected because we have this additional beach that will protect them throughout any impacts,' Mexico Beach Tourist Development President Kimberly Shoaf said. The three-month project will add 3 miles of 14-foot dunes, starting from El Governor Resort to the Mexico Beach canal. While sand is getting moved around, it won't feel different than what visitors are used to. The crew uses a special machine that separates any large materials in the sand before it's placed back. 'We have the 3300 extractor at the end of our discharge it has a set of screens inside that shake and it extracts all of the shell that's larger than three-quarters of an inch out of the sand. And then the rest of the material goes out of a trough and goes out into the beach. You'll just have a more uniform product in the long run. You know, you're not going to have any large fragments of shell that could be sharp like that,' Weeks Marine Project Manager Aaron Hoffler said. Ascension Sacred Heart Bay held luncheon for Heart Health Awareness The project started on Friday. It should be completed by the end of April. Crews will work 24 hours a day to make that deadline. The crew will work in 1500-foot sections, moving west down the shoreline. Those sections will be closed during the work, while the rest of the beach will be open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
