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Dredging will begin in Beach harbor channel

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BOB PETCHER photo Officials from the Army Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, an environmental agency and a and subcontracting company listen to Southwind Construction’s Project Manager Darrell Stewart at Town Hall recently.

According to officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Southwind Construction, a contractor from Evansville, Ind., is expected to start a much-anticipated dredging project in the Mantanzas Pass Entrance Channel Thursday, May 14.

The nearly $2 million contract was awarded April 29 after the Army Corps issued an emergency dredging permit for the Lee County channel in early February. The Army Corps will finance the construction.

At last Friday’s preconstruction conference at Town Hall on Fort Myers Beach, officials from the Army Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, an environmental agency as well as contracting and subcontracting companies reviewed the conditions and terms for the project.

Under the general scope of the project, the work will consist of two cuts in the channel to a 12-foot required depth with two-foot allowable over-depth. The total amount to be dredged will be approximately 225,000 cubic yards with placement in a designated near-shore area approximately one-quarter mile east of the Beach pier. It also involves the removal of approximately 2.3 acres of upland beach which accumulated into the federal navigation channel via long-shore sediment transport.

The process involves a governmental Notice to Proceed order which is anticipated on May 13. Endangered Species Monitoring featuring turtle nesting and shorebird nesting will be conducted by Turtle Time founder Eve Haverfield.

“Lee County anticipated that the project would start early so that’s why I was out there March 1,” said Haverfield. “The regulation is that sea turtle monitoring would have had to been done 65 days prior to the project.”

A clearing and grubbing process by subcontractor Boyd Irrigation of North Fort Myers is expected to begin the following day off Bowditch Point. This work will be done by daylight and should be completed within a maximum of five days.

Then comes the actual dredging process – a 24-hour operation with a duration period of six to eight weeks. This is anticipated to begin May 20.

During the timeframe, all vessel traffic will pass to the north of the dredging plant and ancillary for the first cut of the project and, once the plant is relocated for the second cut, traffic will be directed to the south of the plant.

“There should be no need for channel closure or restrictions,” said Project Manager Darrell Stewart of Southwind to officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and others present at the meeting.

Stewart said his construction equipment was mobilized from New Smyrna Beach to Fort Myers Beach May 9. His staff of 22 workers will work 12-hour shifts until the work is done.

Southwind’s equipment includes a booster barge, fuel barge, excavator sectional barge, ramp barge support, dredge wilko, caterpillar booster, amity tender boat, boa tender boat, proud mary tender boat, two crew boats and nearly 16,000 feet of pipeline including floating rubbers.

“I’m pleased that this project is finally moving forward and that dredging will soon begin in the Pass,” said U.S. Congressman Connie Mack. “This dredging project is long overdue. The dangerous conditions in Matanzas Pass pose serious risks to boaters, the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to emergencies, and the environment. The sooner we can dredge the pass, the sooner we can make it safer and more navigable for all boats.”

Grant Erikson of Erikson & Jenson Seafood represented the shrimp industry at the meeting.

“It looked like all the factions were satisfied at the meeting,” he said. “People were working together well. Hopefully, we’ll see the dredgers out there and get this long-overdue process done.”

Erikson would rather see a long-term solution put in place -blocks of natural rock piled up to hold the depth of the channel

“Let’s be smart about this,” he said. “The channel is going to be there for a long, long time. The way to address this continuing problem is to make it a forever thing by putting jetties there. People love them. I think they’d be appealing looking, a fish haven and an attraction.”