Posted on August 25, 2016
Renourishment of Pensacola Beach is nearing completion.
Since June, crews have pumped more than 1.6 million cubic yards of sand from the deep Gulf onto eight miles of Pensacola Beach.
The $16 million project will shore up eroded sections and the wider beach should provide additional protection for beach roads and properties during storms.
Crews have been working around the clock, seven days a week to finish the work as quickly as possible.
Beach resident Michael Robertson watched the bulldozers and other heavy machinery on the eastern end of the beach early Monday.
“It’s worth all of this to have the beach restored,” Robertson said. “It looks much nicer out here now that it has been widened.”
Robertson said that earlier this year, the beach near his home was almost inaccessible during high tide.
“The water came right up to the sand dunes,” he said.
Contractors are nearing the end of the beach renourishment operations on Pensacola Beach. According the latest update on the project posted on the Santa Rosa Island Authority website, the work should be finished this week. Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com
Fellow beach resident Orapin Roltsch collected shells nearby. Roltsch had a large bucket of unusual shells that were pumped onto the beach along with the sand. She spent the morning digging around the dredging pipes in search of shells.
“I’ve found some good ones,” she said as she displayed her collection.
According to the latest project update posted on the Santa Rosa Island Authority website, the work should be finished this week.
The Island Authority said turtle watch groups have relocated 96 loggerhead sea turtles, four Kemps Ridley sea turtles and two Leatherback sea turtles out of the path of the dredging work.
Renourishment of Pensacola Beach last happened in 2006 after hurricanes Ivan and Dennis hit the area and caused major beach erosion.
Source: Pensacola News Journal
