Construction of the renourishment of 8.1 miles of the Gulf of Mexico beaches at Pensacola Beach, Fla., has been delayed until late June to early July.
Weather and mechanical issues prevented the project Contractor, Weeks Marine, Inc., of Covington, La., from completing the submerged pipeline from the beach to the borrow area in order to commence dredging.
To complete the project, Weeks Marine, Inc., will return to Pensacola Beach with two trailing suction hopper dredges, the R.N. Weeks and the B.E. Lindholm. The same two dredges were utilized in the last nourishment of Pensacola Beach in 2005-2006.
The hopper dredges, which do not require a full-length pipeline from the borrow area to the beach, will return to Pensacola Beach following the completion of the neighboring Navarre Beach renourishment project. In consideration for the delay, the project contract amount will be reduced from $15.31 million to $14.46 million.
Upon their return, the two hopper dredges will commence beach sand placement at Park East and progress westward. The contractor will utilize a series of shorter submerged lines running from the beach offshore for about 0.5 miles. The hopper dredges will take turns excavating sand from the offshore borrow area, located roughly 4.0 miles offshore, and ferrying it to the nearshore at the end of the submerged line, where the dredge will hook up to a floating hose connection to pump out the sand as a slurry onto the beach. The sand slurry will also contain shells from the offshore borrow area, which may be of great interest to the public.
During construction, the contractor will have to close short segments of the beach in order to safely place the new sand and grade it out. They will be working to keep only this small area of beach closed at any one time, and the work is expected to progress quickly down the beach, so any particular area will only be impacted for a few days at most.
Sand ramps will be constructed over the shore-pipe in many areas to allow access to the waterline before the pipeline is removed from the finished areas of the project. The contractor will be working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to complete the job, which is expected to last 60-75 days. Each day during the project, environmental monitors will be riding the beach, inspecting the area for sea turtle nests and shorebird activity.
Sea turtle nests laid within the oncoming project work zone will be relocated to safe areas in the adjacent National Seashore.