Panama City Beaches to Get New Sand

The fourth Panama City Beach Renourishment Project, worth $17.8 million, officially kicked off on Tuesday.

The interim renourishment project is taking place along four segments of beach, spanning from the west to east ends and totaling approximately 3.5 miles.

The County Pier, the City Pier, a part of Treasure Island and a segment of Pinnacle Port will be included in this beach fill scheme.

Weeks Marine, Inc. from Cranford, NJ, is the dredging contractor, the Panama City Beach said in its announcement. They also conducted the 2005-2006 beach nourishment project, which was managed and partially federally-funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The sand for large-scale beach nourishment projects such as this come from the permitted offshore ‘borrow areas’. The main borrow area is located approximately 3.5 miles offshore of the Thomas Drive area, with secondary borrow areas near the St. Andrews Bay entrance channel.

A total of approximately 840,000 cubic yards of sand will be placed within the four project areas, the city said.

It is estimated that this beach fill scheme will be completed by May 1.