State Beach renourishment begins this week

Florida’s beach sand replenishment project for the south end of Gasparilla Island at Gasparilla Island State Park has begun. Last summer, the state solicited bids for the renourishment of the south end. The process includes over 150,000 cubic yards of fill that is “compatible with the existing native beach sand.”

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), Bureau of Design and Construction, is in charge of the project, entitled “Gasparilla Island State Park Coastal Resiliency Enhancement.” Currently, the contractor Waterfront Property Services LLC, doing business as Gator Dredging, is the contractor for the project.

They are currently mobilizing.

FDEP did not give the Beacon an official comment on the project but instead pointed to construction documents on the DEP website.

The project name is CN785 – FDEP’s Gasparilla Island State Park Beach Fill Project, with Brett Moore of Humiston & Moore as the engineer of record.

The area was last dredged in 2019 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as part of the USACE Shore Protection Project.

It follows the same beach fill template and permit as in 2013 and 2019, around the southern tip of Gasparilla Island. Sand comes from over a mile off the beach.

The project includes monitoring manatees and possible manatee collisions, including shutdown of pumping if manatees are seen within 100 yards of dredging.

In public bid documents, there is also a reference to sea turtles, the season for which is between April 14, 2025, and Nov. 1, 2025.

Above, renourishment staging, taken Monday night, Feb 17. Photos by Cheryl