Lido Beach renourishment about to begin

The City of Sarasota (FL) has just announced that the much-anticipated Lido Beach Hurricane and Shoreline Damage Reduction project is set to begin on Monday, July 13, weather permitting.

According to Tom Barwin, Sarasota City Manager, they’re just awaiting the arrival of the contractor’s dredging barge, which is en route from Lake Okeechobee.

“If you’ve been to South Lido Beach within the past few days, you may have noticed four very large pipes staged on the beach,” said the Sarasota City Manager. “Those pipes will carry 710,000 cubic yards of accreted sand from the Gulf of Mexico and recycle it back to Lido Beach.”

The renourishment will start at the south end and proceed northward, returning sand to the beach to fortify the area and help protect nearby infrastructure and wildlife habitats.

As with previous renourishments, the project will be operational 24/7 and Lido Beach will remain open to the public.

The contractor expects to finish pumping sand on the beach in November, then begin construction of beach groins to absorb wave action and slow natural beach erosion.

The project is expected to be completed with a much wider, virtually new beach by May 2021.