Posted on October 13, 2016
By Greg Stanley, Naples Daily News
Trucks will start hauling sand to five county beaches Nov. 1 after Collier County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a $2.5 million beach renourishment deal.
The county hired Earth Tech Enterprises Inc. to transport, place and grade a total of about 135,000 tons of sand to the beaches of South Marco Island, Vanderbilt, Park Shore, Pelican Bay and Sugden Lake.
The project is the first beach renourishment since 2014 and the third truck haul from an inland sand mine since 2013. Before that, except for emergencies, the county used offshore dredges to pump sand onto the beach.
The dredging projects put more sand on the beach than trucks hauls, which are much smaller and have been controversial because of truck traffic through coastal neighborhoods.
“Trucks will haul from sun up to sun down, Monday through Saturday,” said Gary McAlpin, the county’s coastal projects manager.
It will take about 6,000 one-way trips to get the sand from Stewart Mine in Immokalee to the beaches, McAlpin said. Trucks will not haul during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Despite criticism of truck hauls, the county is showing no signs of turning back to traditional dredging. Beach managers are planning to solicit bids from inland sand mines for a five-year contract to supply sand.
This project will put enough sand on Vanderbilt, Park Shore and Pelican Bay beaches to compensate for the next three years of expected erosion, according to county estimates.
Source: Naples Daily News
