Posted on March 7, 2022
Dune restoration work resumed last month on the island following a sea turtle-related hiatus.
As part of a cost-sharing project with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the town will place about 12,000 cubic yards of sand in the Reach 4 area at Midtown Beach between Brazilian Avenue and El Brillo Way.
The project is the continuation of one begun last year before it was halted at the start of sea turtle nesting season, which typically runs from March through October but ramps up in May.
“Last year we did a dune restoration project at the south end of Reach 8,” said Rob Weber, the town’s Coastal Protection coordinator. “Then we added some sand at Reach 7 and then Reach 9. That contract also included placing some sand up at Midtown. We ran out of time because of the nesting season. After May 1, you can’t really do work on the beach.”
Work began in mid-February and is expected to be complete by the end of this week, Weber said.
Crews brought in sand Monday and Tuesday, and will shape the sand today, Weber said. On Thursday, they’ll till it.
Tilling the sand loosens it on the beach for sea turtle nesting season, he added.
Weber said he expects Midtown Beach to remain open while work is being completed, though lifeguards may direct visitors away from certain areas.
Dune restoration work began early last year in various locations throughout the town and neighboring South Palm Beach.
Prior to work being stopped because of nesting season, sand was placed at Reach 8, which runs from south of the Lake Worth to pier to the southern town limits; Reach 7, which is the Sloan’s Curve area; and Reach 9, in South Palm Beach, Weber said.
Crews used sand that was stockpiled as part of the Phipps Ocean Park Beach Nourishment project, which was completed in May 2021.
Approximately 400,000 cubic yards of sand that was dredged offshore was used to complete that project — which stretched along 1.6 miles of beach from the northern tip of Phipps Ocean Park southward to R.G. Kreusler Park near the Lake Worth Pier — while another 85,000 cubic yards was stockpiled for dune restoration work.
More than 20,000 cubic yards of sand was placed in Reach 9 between April and May before work was halted.
In November, the Town Council authorized the resumption of dune restoration work following the completion of sea turtle nesting season.
Work was expected to include the placement of sand in Reach 4, between Hammon Avenue at the south end of Midtown Beach and Banyan Road; and Reach 9.
The Sloan’s Curve area in Reach 7 also could receive additional sand if needed, Director of Public Works Paul Brazil told council members.
A new dune was constructed in that area last year, and a mild hurricane season limited erosion there, he added.
However, a strong storm that struck South Florida in early November caused some sand loss, and additional sand from the town’s stockpile could be added to offset that, he said.
“Before this nor’easter, there wasn’t any sand that we could physically place there,” he told council members. “If there is, we’ll take care of that.”
Currently, there are no other dune restoration projects scheduled for Midtown Beach or the town’s south end, Weber said, though there is a restoration component to a dredging project that is underway in the Palm Beach Inlet.
Sand trapped in the inlet will be deposited on the island’s North End beaches, Weber said.
The federally funded project is expected to be complete April 30.
