New Pass dredge begins this month

Longboat Key is getting even more sand this month, but don’t expect to see a caravan of dump trucks rumbling down Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Starting next week, Norfolk Dredging Co. will begin mobilizing equipment including a pipe on the beach ahead of its dredge arriving to start work Aug. 15, according to an update on the town’s website. The vessel, named Pullen, will pump 200,000 cubic yards of sand from New Pass onto the shoreline between L’Ambiance and Regent Place.

After the south end portion of the project is finished in September, Pullen will move north and mine 250,000 cubic yards of sand from Longboat Pass to be placed from the very north end of the island south to Gulfside Road. Concurrently, the town has ordered about 40,000 cubic yards of sand to be trucked in to supplement the New Pass project.

Public Works Director Juan Florensa said once New Pass is dredged, the U.S. Coast Guard will again mark the channel as navigable.