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Pensacola Beach Renourishment to Begin Nov. 16 - future funding is big concern

Pensacola Beach, FL

Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina and Dennis blew away a significant amount of sand put down for Pensacola Beach renourishment in the early 2000s, and just three years later, dredgers, bulldozers and excavators returned for another round.

The beach caught an unfortunate break then, but Mother Nature atoned after the 2005-06 renourishment with nearly 10 years of relatively calm conditions.

“We were very fortunate,” said Buck Lee, Santa Rosa Island Authority executive director.

Lee is crossing his fingers the same will be true 10 years from today. The Island Authority confirmed Tuesday that renourishment and restoration of 8.1 miles of the beach shoreline will begin the week of Nov. 16 and will last an estimated three months.

Funding beach renourishment never-ending challenge.

The renourishment project will cost about $17 million. The county loaned $8.5 million to the Island Authority with a matching state grant covering the other half to restore the beach.

“You have a big storm, and it can be 90 percent FEMA and 10 percent local,” Lee said of financing the renourishment. “The last 10 years we had to come up with our own funds.

Dottie Ford, Island Authority director of finance, said the island governing agency just completed the first of seven years of payments to the county. The first year of payments on the loan totaled $1.3 million.

The Island Authority acquired federal and state permits and bid out the project to Weeks Marine Inc., a company out of Covington, La. Weeks Marine performed the last beach renourishment 10 years ago.

Renourishment will begin along Ariola Drive. An estimated 1.75 million cubic yards of sand will be deposited along the shoreline.

A 30-inch Cutter suction dredger, R.S. Weeks, will excavate sand from a permitted offshore borrow area and pump the sand to the center of the project along Ariola Drive. The sand will be excavated from the same 137-acre borrow area as the 2002-03 and 2005-06 restoration projects.

The borrow area was evaluated for its sand characteristics and color and to ensure no oil or tar existed in the site. A field study found no evidence of such contaminants.

Bulldozers will disperse the sand westward to Park West and the Fort Pickens gate. The pipeline at Ariola Drive will then reverse course to the east, and the sand will be deposited eastward just beyond Park East.

Small segments of the beach will be closed for sand distribution. Impacted areas should only be closed for a few days. Sand ramps will be constructed over the shoreline pipe for access to the waterline.

“Each time they bring up sand, they’ll probably close out about 300 yards,” Lee said. “Once they move up to the next 300 yards, a lot of locals and visitors will go out and get sea shells.”

Weeks Marine will be on the clock 24 hours a day. Lee said the company will operate at night with the lights on low settings to ensure residents and businesses are minimally impacted.

Beverly McCay of the Holiday Inn Express said the timing of the project is ideal for the hotel. Its business slows down after the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival this weekend.

McCay described renourishment as the best solution at this time, but she worries about raising millions of dollars every seven to 10 years to fund renourishments.“It’s not a permanent solution,” she said.

Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson IV (District-4) said the county is considering long-term funding options. The county benefited substantially from state funding for this renourishment. The $8.5 million allotment topped any other county for the fiscal year.

Lee said counting on the state to continue funding half of future renourishments is foolhardy, and the price tag on those projects will only increase.

“In seven or eight years, it’s going to be $20 million,” Lee said. “If it’s 10 years, somebody’s going to have to find a way to save $2 million a year. If it’s seven years, it’s $3 million a year or find another way of funding.”

Pensacola Beach renourishment

Amount: 1.75 million cubic yards spread over 8.1 miles

Cost: About $17 million

Timeframe: Begins week of Nov. 16, estimated to last three months.


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