Longboat Pass beach renourishment hits target

Longboat Key Public Works Director Juan Florensa said the project contract volume for the Longboat Pass beach renourishment project has been met almost exactly.

The town contracted for 205,000 cubic yards, and the final measured on-the-beach pay volume from Longboat Pass was 204,702 cubic yards, with a gross placement volume of 215,409 cubic yards, Florensa said Monday.

“This project’s borrow area is a finite source,” Florensa said. “The dredge operation made its pass from the offshore end to the landward end within the permitted limits of the project. There’s no additional sand to be dredged from the (Longboat) Pass within the permits at this time."

 The southern segment of the Longboat Pass project went wide to get around the seawalls on the northern and central portions of the beach, Florensa said, which allowed the contractor to use a Y-valve and run two pipelines in alternating fashion to make progress down the beach.

The pipeline plugged briefly as it neared the “finish line,” according to Town Manager David Bullock. It slowed the conclusion of the project for a couple days.

The contractor was already reaching the taper section of the beach, which was intended to narrow down to the south end of Gulfside Road and transition into existing beach, Florensa said.

“As the project evolves, a large fraction of the sand that erodes from the northern and central portions of the fill will migrate southward, feeding the remainder of the Gulfside Road area for a longer period of time,” Florensa said.