Beach restoration project stretches beyond pier
The beach on the north end of Estero Island is getting wider, and that wider beach has reached Lynn Hall Park and beyond.
This is good news to County officials, Beach residents and Beach businesses along the one-mile stretch of the seven-mile island. It also means Florida Dredge & Dock is getting closer to accomplishing its task -slated for the southern terminus of Crescent Beach Family Park with an estimated completion date on Dec. 31- in the Estero Island Restoration Project.
You can ask the men who are heavily involved in the project.
“We have had a lot of weather delays, but other than that it has all gone well,” said a Florida Dredge & Dock employee.
You can also ask Project Coordinator Robert Neal.
“It has gone great from our end,” he said. “The production is up to where it should be, the problems are fixed, and the work itself is looking fantastic.”
Neal said the contractor crossed under the Beach Pier on Tuesday after a successful week of sand placement and distribution. The work in front of Lynn Hall Park went fast.
“They had placed a lot of material out there. Instead of a deep hole they had to fill, it was more a shallow area to spread sand,” said Neal. “They moved quickly.”
The project coordinator is hoping the project could come to an end on Dec. 22. As of Tuesday, there is roughly 1,000 feet left of beach to work on.
“They are averaging about 75 feet a day in production at this point,” said Neal. “They should be able to do that in just over two weeks. That’s with perfect weather.”
Cooler weather is expected this weekend. If a front comes through, it may bring windier conditions.
“If the wind picks up from the south, we could have a problem,” said Neal, who stated tilling operations are expected to begin next Monday for the project. The beach will be raked to a depth of two feet, as required by regulatory agencies to mitigate potential turtle nesting impact
Neal has been updating those on his mailing list with weekly updates on the project. He reported that from Nov. 20-26, the Contractor placed approximately 16,513 cubic yards in their efforts to reach an efficiency rating of 59 percent. (Efficiency is the percentage of time worked from the total available time).
According to Neal, weather delays accounted for 17 hours of the 168 hours available, while mechanical delays accounted for an additional 52 hours. Repairs to the project generator, which suffered a mechanical deficiency during the prior week, were completed on Monday, Nov. 21. The dredge “Gator Point” resumed operations on that day.
Although weather forecasts for last week were not favorable with 15-knot winds predicted all week, the conditions didn’t appear to affect the work being done. The report stated that the wind direction was projected from the north and east but the intensity may still create excess wave energy for the dredging operations.
“Southwest to west winds generally create higher wave energy for the project area. Winds from the east or north have not impacted operations substantially; however the intensity and duration of this week’s forecast may force operations to subside,” stated Neal.
Overall, a required daily production rate is expected to be 2,566 cubic yards, while the average daily production rate has been 2,348 cubic yards. In all, the final estimated volume is reported to be 420,752 cubic yards, while the volume placed so far is 333,332 cubic yards. Those figures reflect the progress report from Nov. 20-26.
The final meeting of an expected five-part production meeting series will be held at the Pink Shell Beach Resort on Dec. 19, if construction is still in progress. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m.