Ferreira Construction Co. Inc., a heavy construction company from Stuart, FL, is mobilizing their dredging equipment for the Sebastian Inlet District’s scheduled channel maintenance and beach renourishment project.
According to an official announcement, the crews will hydraulically dredge 150,000 cubic yards of sand from the inlet’s sand trap and navigation channel leading to the Intracoastal Waterway per the State’s Beach Management Act.
The 19-week project will move 120,000 cubic yards of sand to a one and a half mile stretch of downdrift beaches starting at McLarty Treasure Museum and continuing South past the Ampersand Beach access as part of beach restoration efforts in Indian River County, and is expected to finish in April 2019.
An additional 30,000 cubic yards of sand will be stockpiled in the Sebastian Inlet District’s Dredged Material Management Area (DMMA) for emergency beach fill and dune repair.
“Channel maintenance and beach renourishment projects take place every three to five years since we expanded the sand trap in 2014 and we consistently monitor the accumulation of sand within the inlet system through the data we collect in partnership with Florida Institute of Technology and semi-annual bathymetric surveys ,” said Martin Smithson, Sebastian Inlet District administrator.
“No other inlet in Florida has the volume of data we do in analyzing coastal processes and the movement of sand through the system.”
The current schedule calls for pipe installation and connection to start this week and be completed by January 25.
An 18’ dredge will be staged in the sand trap area West of the inlet and a booster dredge with be staged near the bridge on the Indian River County side with pipe access to downdrift beaches.
Dredging of the sand trap for beach placement as a priority is set to begin on January 28, continuing through February 25, with final beach tilling and grading by the end of February.
Dredging of the channel will begin in mid-March, filling the DMMA with sand before demobilization set for mid-April.
Image source: sitd.us