FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Beaches on the Treasure Coast have fared well so far despite days of tropical weather.
John Shinn often comes to Jetty Park in Fort Pierce to document the weather.
“Water is breaking over the jetty over there it could knock you off the rocks,” said Shinn.
He’s seen days where the beach on the south end of the inlet is eroded due to pounding surf, but not Wednesday.
“Actually built up a lot, last three weeks here they’ve put a lot of ample sand here.”
Despite days of whipping winds and high waves, there is plenty of sand here thanks to a beach renourishment project underway.
“Every two to four years we see this erosion because the Fort Pierce Inlet breaks up the natural flow of sand on Hutchinson Island,” said St. Lucie County spokesman Erick Gill.
It’s the 12th sand replacement project since 1980.
Five hundred thousand cubic yards of sand, or about 153 olympic sized swimming pools worth, are being spread out on the 1.3 mile stretch of beach.
Some of the sand has already been washed away, but that’s by design.
“Eventually, it goes off shore and comes back in on our beaches farther south and ultimately into Martin County,” said Gill.
Biologists are here daily to monitor for sea turtle activity.
The project has an $11.6 million price tag— the federal government is paying 77% and St. Lucie County picks up the rest.
In Martin County, it’s not a beach renourishment project, but a coastal resilience project that’s taking shape.
Work has started at Bathtub Beach along MacArthur Boulevard to build a protective seawall in the dune.
“Armoring to protect the infrastructure in place as erosion does happen,” said Martin County Deputy Public Works Director George Drama.
The seawall will be buried under the dune line, to serve as a barrier when storms roll in.
Once the seawall is complete, the road itself will be raised about 2 and a half feet through several layers of pavement.
“Because it’s lower than base flood elevation. Base flood elevation is 5 and we have areas of the road that are as low as 2.5 elevation, which is 2 and a half feet above sea level,” said Dzama.
During Hurricane Nicole, the water levels covered the road, reaching 3 to 4 feet.
Projects underway to hold the line in the never ending tug of war with mother nature.
