If you have visited our beautiful beaches lately in Juno Beach and at the south end of Jupiter, you may have wondered what's going on with all the dump trucks, bulldozers, large pipes and machinery.

This is what beach re-nourishment looks like.  Officially, it is called Segment III of the North County Comprehensive Shore Protection Project, and is designed to address this State of Florida-designated “critically eroded" area.  Ongoing erosion has the long-ter​m potential to threaten A1A, infrastructure, and beach habitat during severe storms, so massive amounts of sand are being added to the coastal system to act as an environmentally sensitive buffer that will mitigate future storm impacts.

The project location consists of the shoreline from a mile north to 1.4 miles south of the Juno Pier in the towns of Jupiter and Juno Beach.  It was first nourished with offshore sand in 2001, and re-nourished in 2010.  This project, which is nearing completion, calls for approximately 969,600 cubic yards of sand to refill the beach and replace much of what was lost from Hurricane Irma.  The expectation is that the wave action over the coming months will move much of it into the natural beach slope nearshore and replenish adjacent beaches.

Sand that is borrowed off-shore approximately 1.7 miles northeast of the Jupiter Inlet is pumped onto the dry beach through huge metal pipes.  Project contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is utilizing a large machine patented by local subcontractor Fluidized Rock Systems, which takes the dredge material from the pipes and separates the larger shells from the sand.  While shells on the beach are natural, Palm Beach County's environmental scientists advise that the sea turtles that nest along our coasts have more of a challenge digging through sand material that is too dense with shells. Since one of the benefits of the project is to protect and restore critical habitat, this machinery is helping to meet a vital need.

Not to let those beautiful shells go to waste, Environmental Resources Management has provided a shell pile for the public's picking in the main parking lot of Carlin Park on the east side of A1A.  Their research indicates that most of the shells are likely hundreds of years old.  A majority of the 13,000 cubic yards of shell expected to be removed during the project will be beneficially reused on other sensitive County environmental projects such as creation of bird nesting habitat and improvement of Natural Areas' trails.

Construction work has been performed 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, and involved extensive outreach efforts to the neighboring residents along the coast.  The timing of the project (November to February) was done to avoid impacts to sea turtle nesting season.  Any early season nests are relocated and extensive additional environmental monitoring is done throughout the project.

The $14M price tag leverages funding through the Tourist Development bed tax (5% of total cost), a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (5% of total cost), and Hurricane Irma impact funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (90% of total cost).

In January 2020 as part of Segment I of the overall project in the Jupiter/Carlin Beach area, 1.05 miles of beach was nourished in response to damages sustained during passage of Hurricane Irma.  Approximately 500,000 cubic yards of sand pumped onshore from a permitted offshore borrow area was shaped and graded to form a natural beach slope.  This year, the area will receive an additional 200,000 cubic yards of sand through maintenance dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway and Jupiter Inlet by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Jupiter Inlet District and the Florida Inland Navigational District.

Work to restore the dunes in Segment II, which runs for 7,700 feet from Carlin Park south, should begin in the first quarter of 2022.

These projects help preserve our treasured coastal resources, amenities that greatly influence our local economy and high quality of life. 

Please contact me with your ideas and let me know how I can assist you.   You can reach me at (561) 355-2201 or by email at mmarino@pbcgov.org.​​​