Posted on June 23, 2016
By Melissa Nelson Gabriel, Pensacola NewsJournal
Angela Grilli watched with excitement as workers pumped sand onto Pensacola Beach early Tuesday.
The Orange Beach, Ala., woman made the short trip east in anticipation of finding cool seashells brought up by the dredging.
“We should be able to find all sorts of different shells that you don’t normally see out here,” she said.
Dredging boats have begun pumping sand from miles out in the Gulf onto a wide swath of about 8 miles of Pensacola Beach, stretching from Park East through the last beach parking lot on the west heading to Fort Pickens and Gulf Islands National Seashore.
The Santa Rosa Island Authority is funding the approximately $16 million project, designed to shore up the barrier island during storms and protect against erosion. The work had been scheduled to start in mid-November but was repeatedly delayed because of rough weather.
“I noticed the barges out there this morning and am excited to see the work underway,” said Robert Rinke, whose Portofino Island Resort development fronts sections of the beach near where the renourishment work is underway.
The work will benefit beach residents and business owners but also will benefit other Escambia County residents by bolstering the region’s tourism-driven economy, he said.
“Most of the people who visit the beach and enjoy the beach are from the local area. Beach renourishment is about quality of life for the whole area,” Rinke said.
But not everyone was excited about the work.
Dwain Brahier of Pensacola was among the beach goers watching the dredging operations Tuesday.
As Brahier watched the bulldozers and other heavy equipment, he said he didn’t think the renourishment was necessary. Mother Nature controls movement of the tides and the shoreline he said.
“This wouldn’t be necessary if it weren’t for the buildings out here,” he said. “I think it is an invasion of the environment and the ecosystem out here,” he said.
The Pensacola Beach work follows completion of a similar renourishment project along Navarre Beach. That project finished on schedule and under budget, said Rob Williamson, the Santa Rosa County commissioner who represents Navarre Beach.
“Our beach visitors and returning guests will notice an aesthetic benefit from the work as well as the protection it will bring in storms,” Williamson said.. “When we protect our beach, we are protecting our livelihood because tourism is an economic driver in this community.”
Williamson said the projected $17.4 million project should cost less than $16 million because the work went quickly and smoothly.
“We had great weather throughout the process, no issues with sea turtles,” he said.
On Pensacola Beach, workers are pumping sand onto the beach around-the-clock in a push to finish work as quickly as possible.
Escambia County officials said the work should take 60 to 75 days to complete.
Escambia County loaned $8.5 million to the Santa Rosa Island Authority for the renourishment project and a matching state grant is covering the remainder of the project costs.
Source: Pensacola NewsJournal
