Posted on June 24, 2026
Located along Florida’s Central Coast, Fort Pierce Beach attracts more than 700,000 visitors each year with its outdoor recreation, water activities, and local dining, supporting the area’s tourism-driven economy.
Each year, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District and the St. Lucie County Erosion District share responsibility for maintaining Fort Pierce Beach, which faces severe coastal erosion that washes away the shoreline, removes natural protection for nearby residences, and limits beach access for visitors.
To help preserve the beach, USACE Jacksonville District and the St. Lucie County Erosion District commissioned Manson to renourish one mile of shoreline using sand from an approved borrow site four miles offshore. At the start of the project, Fort Pierce Beach had no existing beach above the high tide line, and ongoing tides continued to wash away the sand dunes.
In March 2026, Manson’s Fort Pierce project team began setting up along the shoreline, bringing in heavy equipment including dozers, loaders, pipelines, a third-party crane and the MANSON 76 mooring barge. To ensure the highest quality of material is being pumped onto the beach, the team brought in an extractor screening machine to filter quality grade sand.
Working on two coordinated fronts, the beach crew and dredge crew kept communication clear to support safe, efficient operations onshore and on the water. The beach crew installed pipeline and worked with the MANSON 76 and a third-party crane to lift a connecting pipe hose over a public jetty, creating a clear path for material to reach the shoreline. To keep the area accessible and safe for visitors, the team built an ADA walkway over the pipeline crossing so beachgoers could continue using the jetty while staying clear of the project site.
On the water, the hopper dredge BAYPORT crew made trips between the dredge site and the MANSON 76, carrying material to the transfer point. With sand moving through the pipeline and filtering through the extractor machine, heavy equipment operators quickly placed and spread sand across different sections of the one-mile stretch.
After two months of successful beach renourishment, Manson completed the federally funded project just in time for summer. The newly placed sand restores recreational beach access, supports local tourism and businesses, and strengthens the community’s natural storm protection.
