Not so long ago, ocean waves washed right up to the dunes at Boynton Beach Oceanfront Park, which is among the county’s most frequented beaches. Even at low tide, beachgoers were often packed together, trying to find space to sunbathe.
That is no longer the case.
The beach now is anywhere from 200 to 300 feet wide, broad enough to seemingly accommodate everyone.
The Army Corps of Engineers spent $9.4 million to spread over 500,000 cubic yards of sand along 1.1 miles of beach from south of Ocean Avenue to Ocean Inlet Park. Ocean Ridge Hammock Park, to the north of Oceanfront Park, also benefited from the dredging project. The sand was transported to the shoreline from an offshore pipeline.
The contractor, Weeks Marine Inc., restored the beach and dunes that were damaged by recent storm impacts.
The design life of the project is 5 to 7 years and is intended to restore critical marine turtle nesting habitat, provide storm protection for public parks and infrastructure, and create recreational space for residents and visitors.
All material placed on the beach was screened for shell and rock to prevent impacts to nesting marine turtles. The Army Corps, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Boynton Beach and Ocean Ridge were all project partners.
Hurricane Nicole, which made landfall as a Category 1 storm south of Vero Beach on Nov. 10, 2022, generated strong on-shore winds that produced a storm surge that battered beaches from Miami to Jacksonville. The central part of Palm Beach County was heavily impacted.
Workers scramble to remove equipment from beach to avoid disturbing turtle nesting
To restore the eroded coastline, sand was pumped 24/7 onto the beaches from an offshore sandbar. The work began a month ago.
Andy Studt, who oversees the work for the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, noted that because the beaches in the central part of the county were heavily used, the project was necessary.
“This was something that we really needed to get done,” said Studt. The work was supposed to be completed by May 1 to avoid disturbing turtle nesting, but weather-related delays pushed the timeline back. He said that the actual pumping of sand onto the beaches ended on Monday, April 27, but it may take another 7 to 10 days to remove all equipment.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Popular Palm Beach County beach is finally wide enough for everyone
Reporting by Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
