SOUTH HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. (CBS12) — Beachgoers on South Hutchinson Island will see new restrictions and round-the-clock construction beginning this month as a major sand renourishment effort gets underway at Fort Pierce Beach.
Portions of Seaway Drive and some of the parking areas at Jetty Park will be closed to the public starting Wednesday, March 11, as crews begin staging for the federal Fort Pierce Shore Protection Project. The contractor will also close the South Jetty and adjacent beaches from Friday, March 14, through Monday, March 23, to ensure safety during initial beach construction efforts.
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville District has hired Manson Construction to place roughly 400,000 cubic yards of sand from authorized borrow areas off the coast of Fort Pierce along one mile of shoreline immediately south of Fort Pierce Inlet.
Offloading of the sand will take place from inside the inlet’s south jetty.
Operations are planned to be complete by mid-May. Periodic closures to Seaway Drive, the Fort Pierce Jetty, and the adjacent beach will be necessary until the renourishment project is completed.
The renourishment work continues a federal shore protection project. It is being executed under a $15.1 million contract between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Manson Construction, with 77.76 percent of the funding coming from the federal government and 22.25 percent coming from the county’s Erosion District.
Officials say the federal project reduces storm damage to residential and commercial infrastructure, improves habitat for coastal marine life, and helps offset persistent coastal erosional impacts attributed to the federal inlet.
Once the renourishment project begins, work will be done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends and holidays, until completion. Independent contractors will monitor the project for sea turtle nesting and relocate nests as needed during construction.