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Consultants present hybrid wave‑mitigation wall concepts for Fort Myers Beach; council asks for costs and community outreach
Summary
Consultants reported island‑wide modeling showing wave‑mitigation structures (hybrid hard/soft designs and continuous overlapping segments with access breaks) could reduce wave heights and allow FEMA map revisions in targeted areas; council requested hydrodynamic results, maintenance cost ranges and public engagement before decisions.
Consultants for the Town of Fort Myers Beach presented a status update on April 8 on a shoreline protection due‑diligence study that recommends hybrid wave‑mitigation features — hardened structures combined with dune restoration and sand nourishment — to reduce wave heights behind the beach.
Elizabeth, the project lead, and Austin Wise, the team's senior coastal engineer, told the council the team completed island‑wide drone imagery, site visits, spatial analyses of FEMA flood zones and site‑specific wave‑propagation modeling. Austin said the center of the island experiences higher still‑water elevations in 100‑year storm conditions, and that properly designed structures could reduce wave heights that push a property from FEMA’s VE (high‑velocity) zone to an AE classification.
The consultants described a concept of overlapping, discontinuous segments that ‘‘break the waves’’ but do not attempt to stop storm surge.…
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