Beach restoration project underway in Port Canaveral

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — Just in time for sea turtle nesting season, Port Canaveral has completed its biggest beach restoration project yet.

Officials said the beach there has been restored to the way it was around 1950.

People enjoying a nice, wide beach near Port Canaveral on Monday probably didn’t give it a thought, but the beach they’re frolicking on is partly man-made.

For months now, bulldozers have been moving sand, widening three and a half miles of beach and protecting it against hurricanes, until finally — the widening project.

There may be a lot of it, but beach sand isn’t cheap. This restoration cost around $18 million.

Before and after pictures tell the tale: the restored beach is on the right. The change is visible from offshore, as well.

The Canaveral Port Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers had to restore the beach because the port’s jetties that jut out into the ocean interfere with the natural underwater movement of sand.

That robs the beach of its ability to replenish itself after storms. If this were not done, officials said that in about a decade, the shoreline would probably be over the other side of A1A.

Congressman Bill Posey said taking care of the environment in this way ensures that the beach area generates tax revenues, jobs, and overall prosperity.

_{Source: wesh.com}