Crews on Sanibel Island have laid out 6,500 feet of pipe to bring in 450,000 tons of sand directly from the Gulf. This effort aims to rebuild the beaches stronger and more resilient.
“Mother Nature can do a lot of it herself, but there are some instances in which she needs a bit of an assist, and so that’s what we’ve been doing here,” said Holly Milbrandt, City of Sanibel Natural Resources Director.
Miles of pipe, bulldozers, and mountains of sand make up the project.
“This section of the island has historically been subject to more erosion than most parts of Sanibel,” said Milbrandt.
Where waves once lapped at the seawall, there is now a full wide beach.
Milbrandt explained the process: “There is a large hopper dredge which is working that area… It is filling the hopper with sand, and then it travels into a booster station that’s located just off the shoreline here, and it connects to a pipe, and then that sand is pushed with a bunch of water through the pipe and up here onto the beach.”
The state closely watches the project, according to Milbrandt.
“There are strict regulations on how these sites are permitted,” said Milbrandt. “They also have to have special protective measures related to sea turtle protection and protection of other marine organisms that are out there so they’re not caught up into the dredge.”
For Milbrandt, the project is a testament to Sanibel’s resilience.
“It’s definitely been a long and hard, you know, recovery period,” she said.
Crews are working around the clock to ensure the project’s completion by the end of the week.