Posted on March 9, 2026
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District will begin dredging at Palm Beach Harbor for the upcoming Federal beach renourishment project on the Mid-Town Segment of the Town of Palm Beach.
This iteration is not a traditional Operations and Maintenance (O&M) event for the harbor. Instead, material from the harbor’s entrance channel and settling basins is being used as part of the Federally-authorized Coastal Storm Risk Management (CSRM) project, maximizing efficiency. The beach renourishment contract was awarded at over $20 million to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock under the existing beach renourishment contract, although the cost is not tied to a standalone navigation-maintenance effort.
Crews anticipate removing approximately 100,000 to 150,000 cubic yards of sand from Palm Beach Harbor, while additional material needed to complete the beach renourishment will come from two offshore borrow areas.
Dredging will be conducted using the hopper dredge, “Padre Island,” which collects material directly into its onboard hopper, so no submerged pipeline will be installed in the inlet, and no closures expected. After each load is collected, the vessel will transport the material along the coastline for placement on the Mid-Town segment of the Palm Beach County CSRM project template. Work within the harbor is expected to take 30 days or less before the contractor transitions offshore for remaining sand needs. All beach placement must be completed by April 30 to avoid impacts to sea turtle nesting season.
“What’s unique about this effort is that we’re able to optimize our footprint, and accomplish two missions with a single project,” said Chris McNees, Jacksonville District Project Manager for the effort. “By conducting dredging at Palm Beach Harbor during its normal annual maintenance window and placing that material on the Mid-Town beach renourishment project, we avoided the need for a separately funded navigation maintenance event this year,” he continued. “The same project delivery team designed the renourishment project to use the harbor as a borrow source, which streamlined planning and coordination. It’s an efficient approach that shows how we can pair navigation and coastal storm risk management missions in the future, especially when Mid-Town’s next renourishment cycle comes up.”
Last year’s large-scale maintenance dredging removed approximately 217,000 cubic yards from the harbor’s entrance channel and settling basins.
For more information, please contact the Jacksonville District Public Affairs Office.
