beach restoration update

[JB]

One would think there has to be a cutoff date for this seawall construction. Not only because of turtle issues, but as the tourist season begins, people paying thousands of dollars per week for gulf front accommodations are simply not going to put up with heavy equipment and noise just a few feet from where they are trying to enjoy their vacations.

I think most property owners are shooting for April 1 as a "soft deadline" for completing their work. If it goes much longer than that, there are going to be some pissed-off renters. Can't say I would blame them. Make that kind of investment in a vacation, only to have a backhoe and pile driver working ten feet from your children's sandcastle.

 

[Sally]

The Western Walton County Beach Restoration Project is underway with the delivery of equipment to the project area. The first delivery of a D7 bulldozer occurred on Monday and additional equipment and pipeline for the project will continue through Jan. 29. As equipment arrives, it will be moved to the construction area and assembled as needed. The following outlines activities that should be occurring in the next three weeks.

Week of Jan. 30

? Completion of pipeline installation and other items necessary for construction to begin

? Dredge Liberty Island arrives and commences construction

? Construction is expected to begin at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort approximately 1,000 feet west of the Finz restaurant. The project will be moving eastward toward the Sandestin Hilton Beach, Golf Resort & Spa

Week of Feb. 6

? Construction is expected to continue eastward within the vicinity of the Sandestin Hilton Beach, Golf Resort & Spa and Tops?L Beach and Racquet Resort

Week of Feb. 13

? Construction is expected to continue eastward toward the western boundary of the Topsail Hill State Preserve

? Construction is expected to continue eastward within the vicinity of Tops?L Resort and the western portion of Four Mile Village

For continually updated information visit the project website www.protectwaltoncountybeaches.com.

 

[Lady D]

Is this Phillips Inlet Access at the end of Walton Lakeshore Drive? I am not familiar with just Lakeshore Drive. We rent off of Walton Lakeshore Drive on Walton Magnolia Ln. and there isn't a public walkover there even though there is an access. Does Walton County rebuild the dunes that are destroyed in front of privately owned beach houses and townhouses like the one we rent? That walkover was half gone back last September. He says he cannot build it back until his dunes are restored.

 

[Kurt]

Is this Phillips Inlet Access at the end of Walton Lakeshore Drive? I am not familiar with just Lakeshore Drive. We rent off of Walton Lakeshore Drive on Walton Magnolia Ln. and there isn't a public walkover there even though there is an access. Does Walton County rebuild the dunes that are destroyed in front of privately owned beach houses and townhouses like the one we rent? That walkover was half gone back last September. He says he cannot build it back until his dunes are restored.

No, the renourishment is on the other end of the county. He might have meant the scraping where they pushed sand up against the dune line, but there will be no actual government dune restoration other than that.

 

[Lady D]

Thanks for the info. No matter what the area looks like as to dunes we still enjoy the stay! Hope the water is back to the pretty emerald green color we were accustomed to seeing!

 

[CastlesOfSand]

Yikes. Hard to disguise the color of that sand.

Is that sand? Looks like dirt.

 

[Sally]

From Walton Sun

After years of hold ups and delays the Western Walton County beach nourishment project will finally get under way next week.
?We are all excited. We?ve been waiting to see sand pumped back onto the beaches,? Brad Pickel, director of beach management for the Walton County Tourist Development Council.
Sand will be dredged from a borrow site off the East Pass in Destin then barged over to the construction site. An underwater pipe will then pump the sand onto the beaches from the barge.
The pipe has been delivered and the dredge will be in place next week, Pickel said. Construction is set to begin at Sandestin Beach and Golf Resort and will be completed in10,000 sections. The project will extend 5,000 feet east and west. The entire pipe will then be pulled up and the operation will move 10,000 feet west and started again, Pickel said.
?The pipe?s maximum pump distance is about 5,000 feet (in either direction of the construction site),? Pickel said.
?It?s kind of like building a house and we?ve got the lot cleared now,? Pickel said.
The nourishment project will restore 7.1 miles of beaches from Topsail Hill State Preserve in Walton County to Henderson State Park in Destin. The cost is being split by Walton County and the city of Destin. Walton County will shell out $16 million for the project.

 

[Sally]

Beach officials are ?pumped? at the arrival of restoration equipment. High winds kept the tugboat carrying the pipeline needed for dredging and the dredge boat from arriving on time. However, both did arrive midweek and will be in place to finally begin pumping sand onto the beach on this week. ?We?re excited to finally get started,? said Brad Pickel, director of beach management for the Walton County Tourist Development Council.

Next week

? The pipeline is expected to be put into place and construction to start at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
For continually updated information visit the project website www.protectwaltoncountybeaches.com.

 

[Sally]

Rough seas hindered the laying of a 2,000-foot offshore pipe used to transfer sand from a barge to the beach this past week. ?We?re in a holding pattern until the waves come down,? said Brad Pickel, director of beach management for the Walton County Tourist Development Council. Sand was scheduled to be pumped onto the beaches Thursday morning in the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort area. The start of the beach nourishment could begin this weekend if the weather improves. Calm gulf waters will help speed along the project, Pickel said. ?Two fronts converged on the area this past week and it wrecked havoc with the sea,? Pickel said. Dunes were constructed this past week out of existing sand on the beaches, said Pickel. When construction begins it will move east toward the boundary of Topsail Hill State Preserve.

 

[Kurt]

Got word this afternoon that dredging has begun.