MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. — The long-awaited John’s Pass Dredge Project in Madeira Beach is nearly complete, with the contractor saying it expects to wrap up at the end of this month.
The project began in early February, with enough sand pumped out to raise the elevation of a large, vacant lot by up to three feet.
A dredger continues to eat away at the false beach that built up in John’s Pass for many years.
Bayside Dredging of Clearwater says so far that it has pumped 11,000 cubic yards of sand out of the pass.
The channel is now much deeper in some areas.
“So some of our shallowest pre-dredge elevations were a positive elevation,” said company Vice President John Schamp. “So actual dry sand above the waterline, and some of the deepest post-dredge elevations that we dredge to were 12 to 13 feet deep. So quite the improvement from what it was.”
Bayside Dredging took aerial photos for the City of Madeira beach to show its progress.
In January, before the project began, you can see the large false beach built up along the boardwalk:
January photo
In April, about two months into the dredge, most of that false beach is gone:
April photo
In a photo taken last week, you can see lots of water in the pass:
Photo from last week
All of that sand is being piled up in vacant waterfront lot the city purchased last fall.
It’s going to raise the elevation of the lot by up to three feet.
Commissioner David Tagliarini says that using the John’s Pass sand as fill is saving the city a lot of money.
“No cost to us. Saved us over $1 million,” he said. “So we’ve done, we’ve been really smart about how we dispose of this sand. We’re not paying for it. In fact, it’s saving us money.”
Tagliarini says the city is now working with the Florida Department of Transportation to get debris from the old John’s Pass bridge removed also.
“The Department of Transportation has agreed to take that debris out, which will allow for freer water flow and less sand accumulation, which will make this safe — more safe from the sidewalk to the pilings,” Tagliarini said.
Capt. Dylan Hubbard, whose Hubbard’s Marina Business was at ground zero for the sand accumulation, said that he is happy to see it gone, which makes the area much safer.
But Hubbard says the sand will come back quickly if more isn’t done.
Next, he wants to see a much longer north jetty built so the outgoing tide goes further into the gulf.
“That longer jetty would lengthen and straighten our channel west of the bridge, and it would ultimately be the nail in the coffin to stop sand from accreting into John’s Pass,” Hubbard said.
“Bottom line, we’ve got a great large step in the right direction.”