Posted on March 26, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says Brevard County is getting its money’s worth from ongoing federally funded beach renourishment projects that stretch from Port Canaveral to the Melbourne Beach area.
By using more efficient procedures and combining previously separate projects, taxpayers are saving about $20 million on what initially had been pegged as $150 million in work.
“These efforts have helped protect the economy, homes, businesses and critical infrastructure that sustains the livelihoods of Americans living on and investing in these beaches,” said Col. Brandon Bowman, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District. “In the last three years, the federal government has invested over $150 million between these projects. And through creative strategies, the Corps is forecasted to save federal taxpayers over $20 million by combining and optimizing projects in a way that makes sense, in the name of efficiency.”
The projects help reduce the impacts of storm surge and wave-generated erosion.
With the reduction in total costs from $150 million to $130 million, the savings will be used to help pay for future Corps of Engineers shore protection and dredging projects along the Space Coast.
Bowman and other Army Corps officials discussed the agency’s local projects, in a briefing along the edge of Port Canaveral’s Jetty Park Beach, joined by U.S. Rep Mike Haridopolos and Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Wayne Justice.
Haridopolos, meanwhile, says he is hoping to preserve federal funding for these projects in the future, in light of efforts to cut the federal budget.
Breakdown of renourishment projects
The Army Corps, through its Jacksonville District, is funding three projects locally:
Canaveral Harbor Sand Bypass Project: In September 2024, it awarded a $40.6 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock of Houston for the sixth iteration of the Canaveral Harbor Sand Bypass Project. Previous sand bypass projects there occurred starting in 1995.
This project is moving about 1.5 million cubic yards of sand from the shoreline immediately north of Port Canaveral to two segments of critically eroded shoreline in the Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach areas.
The first segment runs along about 3.3 miles of shoreline beginning just south of Jetty Park to Shepard Park in Cocoa Beach. The second segment runs along about 3.7 miles of shoreline from just south of Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach to the northern border of Patrick Space Force Base.
The Canaveral Harbor Sand Bypass Project is scheduled to end by April 30, in advance of the main turtle-nesting season. Leftover sand will be saved offshore, and will be used for future projects, Bowman said.
Justice, a retired Coast Guard rear admiral, said another benefit of the Canaveral Harbor Sand Bypass Project is helping reduce the impacts of shoaling along Port Canaveral’s channel, keeping it in good shape for navigation by cruise and cargo ships.
The Army Corps also has been overseeing about $34 million worth of dreging projects in the Port Canaveral area.
Mid Reach and South Reach Projects: Following damages caused by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, the Army Corp in September 2023 awarded a $47.6 million contract to The Dutra Group of San Rafael, California, to execute a flood control and coastal emergencies rehabilitation of the Mid Reach and South Reach segments of the Brevard County federal shore protection project.
The contract is placing about 1 million cubic yards of sand on critically eroded beaches extending about 11.5 miles from the southern border of Patrick Space Force Base through shorelines of Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic and ending at Spessard Holland Beach Park in the Melbourne Beach area.
Sand was obtained from a combination of offshore dredging and a sand mine in Fort Pierce.
The Mid Reach sand-placement ended last week.
Work on the South Reach section is forecasted to start in November, after turtle-nesting season ends. Army Corps officials say the South Reach is in better shape than the Canaveral and Mid Reach areas had been before their projects began.
Combined with previous beach renourishment projects dating back decades, the Army Corps said its projects have placed 17.6 million cubic yards of sand on the beaches over the years.
Federal funding outlook
Col. Brandon Bowman, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District, discusses the federally funded beach renourishment projects along the Space Coast. With him is U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Indian Harbour Beach.
The initial sand bypass project in the Port Canaveral area was agreed to in October 1999, after a decade of legal wrangling in a class-action lawsuit brought by beachside property owners.
The complaint alleged that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers illegally took land from hundreds of property owners because the jetties the Corps built at the port in the 1950s led to beach erosion south of the port.
The federal government eventually offered to restore 13 miles of coastline south of the port for 50 years.
Haridopolos, R-Indian Harbour Beach, said, although “nothing is ever guaranteed in the government” and “there are going to be a lot of challenges” related to the federal budget, he is hopeful that federal funding for future beach renourishment projects continues to come to Brevard County.
“This is a project that preserves our way of life on the Space Coast and really promotes, not only tourism, but just the everyday enjoyment that is being a citizen of Florida,” Haridopolos said. “And it’s the reason why we have record-breaking tourism numbers in the state of Florida — because of incredible beaches like this.”
Haridopolos said the improvements to Brevard’s beaches resulting from beach renourishment helps attract tourists to the area — bringing in more sales tax revenue to the Space Coast — and boosts property values and property tax revenue.
“This is an investment in our beaches,” Haridopolos said. “When you preserve these beaches, you’re preserving the tax base. You’re making sure that tourists want to come over. When we make these investments, we keep that quality of life. The Canaveral Sand Bypass Project is a prime example of how we can protect our coastline, while strengthening our economy.”
Army Corps officials said they hope to keep the commitment to continue Brevard beach renourishment projects into the 2050s and beyond.
Haridopolos said: “I’m confident, when I talk to other members of Congress, the U.S. Senate, our president, if this is on the chopping block for whatever reason, we can walk them through and show: Here is the return on investment that we can get back by making these investments, and keeping the way of life that we enjoy right now in Florida.”
On these projects, Haridopolos said, “we have maximized, not only the way of life, but maximized tax dollars.”
Defending against Mid Reach criticism
Christopher Ren, the Army Corps’ Jacksonville District senior project manager for the Brevard County shore protection projects and the Canaveral Sand Bypass Project, defended the Mid Reach project from criticism of some environmental advocates, who say that adding too much sand will bury and destroy a rare reef the federal government deems “essential fish habitat.”
After a decade of studies and permitting, the federal government allowed the Mid Reach dredging project, which offsets about 3 acres of the reef that the project buries with a $10.6 million, 4.8-acre man-made reef.
Ren said the sections of artificial reef that were built offshore for mitigation are doing what they were intended to do.
“All the agencies that review those monitoring reports have said they are performing as expected, and performing within the requirements of our permitting, the county’s permits and the environmental assessments,” Ren said.
In summing up the projects, Bowman said: “We look forward to a bright future and beautiful beaches, a more efficient harbor and a more resilient shoreline for Brevard County.”
