Perhaps the most successful beach maintenance program in Florida, the City of Delray Beach, conducted the 4th periodic renourishment of the original beach nourishment project in February and March of 2002. The dredge contractor, Bean-Stuyvesant L.L.C., using their dredge the Meridian competed the project in 58 days. The 1.7 mile long project resulted in the placement of over one million cubic yards of sand, protecting the design section of the beach project.

Coastal Planning & Engineering’s geologists identified a sand source approximately 2500 feet directly offshore for use in the renourishment project. Biologists from CPE have also mapped the offshore reefs to protect the reef habitat, building in wide buffer zones around the reefs to avoid accidental damage.

In addition, a gap in the barrier reef system was mapped, and used by the dredge contractor to ingress and egress into the project area with the dredge and other vessels, avoiding transport over the sensitive reef system. The project design developed by CPE includes a consideration of an extensive data record of past beach monitoring results to develop a plan which addressed hot spot areas of erosion.

Paul Dorling is project manager for the City of Delray Beach. The construction contract had a unit cost per cubic yard of sand in place of $2.60 with a mobilization/demobilization fee of $968,500, for a total cost of $3,882,210, including beach tilling.