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County-led dredging program produced extra sand; city, Army Corps to use material for beach renourishment
Summary
Volusia County and partners captured more sand than expected from an Army Corps dredging operation and will use it for dune and beach repairs, including a planned third phase that could add up to 2.2 million cubic yards. Officials secured permit flexibility to work near turtle nests under limited conditions.
Volusia County officials told the Port Orange City Council that an Army Corps of Engineers dredging operation produced substantially more sand than originally estimated, allowing the county to expand beach renourishment work in Port Orange and neighboring communities.
Volusia County District 2 Councilman Matt Reinhardt said the initial dredge was expected to yield about 770,000 cubic yards but produced about 990,000 cubic yards. That surplus allowed planners to add a second phase and a third follow-up project. The second phase provided material to shore up areas further north, and a third project — expected to begin around January — will target shoals in the Intracoastal Waterway and could yield an additional 1.7 million to 2.2 million cubic yards of sand, Reinhardt said.
County staff worked with the Army Corps to change how dredged sand is handled. Instead of placing dredged material in deep ocean disposal sites, the material was pumped into a stockpile area in Ponce Inlet and then trucked or pumped to beach placement locations, officials said. Using the same contractor and dredging vessels as the Corps should speed follow-up work, Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt described a negotiated permit arrangement with state and federal partners that gives crews more flexibility during turtle season. County officials won a condition allowing teams to work near nests with a 20-foot buffer in some cases and to “work around” turtles rather than stop broad construction if a turtle is sighted, he said. “We were able to convince them to give us a 20 foot radius around if a sea turtle area is identified. They could just simply rub it off and we could work around it,” Reinhardt said.
Officials emphasized that the work is intended both to restore natural beach habitat and to protect private properties that were damaged in recent storms. The dredging and placement program will continue in phases, and state and federal permits and contractor schedules will determine exact timing.
Council members and staff encouraged residents to follow agency announcements about specific placement dates and cautioned that final restoration plans depend on continued coordination with the Army Corps, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Department of Emergency Management.
