The South Reach begins at Flug Avenue in Indialantic and continues south to Spessard Holland Park in Melbourne Beach.  South Reach Satellite Image – Click to View

2009-10 SOUTH REACH RENOURISHMENT

Between December 2009 and April 2010 Great Lakes Dredge Company and Dock will renourish the South Reach Federal Shore Protection Project under contract to the US Army Corps of Engineers.  The hopper dredge Liberty Island will use direct hopper pump-out to deposit sand onto the beaches.  The Liberty Island is expected to move approximately 650,000 cubic yards of sand from the Canaveral Shoals borrow site to the South Reach beaches.  Work will begin in the vicinity of the Indialantic Boardwalk in mid-December and work to the northern end of the project at Flug Avenue.  After finishing the northern end of the project, work will proceed from the boardwalk area southward to Spessard Holland Park.  Ideally the project should be complete by mid-March, and permits require that work be completed prior to May 1, 2010.

2009-10 South Reach Funding Federal (56.3%):   $7.0 million State (20.8%):       $2.6 million County (22.9%):    $2.8 million* Total :                    $12.4 million *Collected from local hotels as a Local Option Tourist Development Tax

The Hopper Dredge  Liberty Island

SOUTH REACH HISTORY

On October 31, 2001—as part of the 2001-2002 Energy and Water appropriations bill—Congress authorized $6 million to begin renourishment of the South Reach,  encompassing Indialantic and Melbourne Beach. Although the events of September 11th delayed federal funding authorization, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sliced through “red tape” and were able to award a construction contract in record time. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company was awarded the South Reach construction contract on December 20, 2001.

This was welcome news for residents of Melbourne Beach, especially those who had experienced severe beach erosion and were on the verge of losing their homes.

Due to federal funding considerations, the South Reach of the Brevard County Shore Protection Project was sub-divided into four sections. VIEW MAP (Requires Adobe Reader).

The Base Bid area was approximately two miles in length extending from Spessard Holland Park North to Tampa Avenue in Indialantic. This area, determined to be the most critically eroded area of the South Reach, was renourished first, in March 2002. Option A, which extended north from Tampa Avenue to 14th Avenue was renourished next. Option B, which continued north from 14th Avenue to Nance Park began in April but was not completed prior to the April 30 turtle nesting season deadline.

Even with such a late start, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company managed to pump 1.25 million cubic yards of sand onto 3 miles of shoreline during the 2001-2002 construction season. The remainder of Option B and Option C, the latter of which continued north from Nance Park to the Pizza Hut just north of the Indialantic Town limits, were renourished during March and April 2003.

On January 13, 2002 the Padre Island hopper dredge began moving sand from the Space Coast Shoals offshore borrow area into the South Reach nearshore disposal and sand re-handling area located approximately ½ mile offshore of Tampa Avenue in Indialantic.

On March 12th, the cutterhead dredge Alaska anchored over the South Reach re-handling area and began pumping sand from the re-handling area through a pipeline onto the beaches between Spessard Holland Park and Tampa Avenue.

Renourishment of the remaining project area from Tampa Avenue north to the Pizza Hut in Indialantic began, but was not completed before, the May 1st commencement of turtle nesting season. Approximately one mile of beach north of Nance Park remained unfinished for a year.

On March 28, 2003, the hopper dredge Liberty Island used a direct hopper pump-out method to deposit sand onto the beaches from Nance Park north to the Pizza Hut. The South Reach was completed on April 30, 2003. To renourish the South Reach, approximately 1.574 million cubic yards of sand were placed on the beach.

Space Coast Shoals provided 1.2 million cubic yards of sand and the remaining 374,000 cubic yards came from Canaveral Shoals. Canaveral Shoals was also the sand source for the entire North Reach and is anticipated to meet all of Brevard County’s future beach replenishment needs.

In 2004 Brevard County was battered by Hurricanes Charlie, Frances and Jeanne.  During this catastrophic hurricane season the South Reach Shore Protection Project successfully protected all oceanfront structures in the project area from direct ocean impacts.  To restore damage to the South Reach subsequent to these storms, the Corps of Engineers and Brevard County mobilized an emergency renourishment project in early 2005.  Bean Stuyvesant LLC, a subcontractor of Weeks Marine, Inc., used the largest hopper dredge operating in United States waters (at that time) to renourish the South Reach. During each trip the Stuyvesant vacuumed up to 6,400 cubic yards of sand from Canaveral Shoals, hauled it approximately twenty miles to an offshore pipe, connected to the pipe, and pumped the sand onto the South Reach beaches. Approximately 3.7 miles of the South Reach received an estimated total of 578,900 cubic yards of sand in March-April 2005.