Bids out for State Park renourishment

The state is soliciting bids for the renourishment of the south end of Gasparilla Island at Gasparilla Island State Park. The process will include 150,000 cubic yards of fill that is “compatible with the existing native beach sand.”

Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Design and Construction is soliciting the contractor bids in a project called “Gasparilla Island State Park Coastal Resiliency Enhancement.” 

The area was last dredged in 2019 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as part of the USACE Shore Protection Project. It is the same beach fill template as in 2013 and 2019, around the southern tip of Gasparilla Island.

The project includes monitoring manatees and possible manatee collisions, including shutdown of pumping if manatees are seen within 100 yards of dredging. There are also restrictions in the documents regarding shorebirds and activity between February 14, 2025 and prior to September 1, 2025 and sea turtles between April 14, 2025 and Nov. 1, 2025.

Documents for the bid will be available for download on Friday, June 21, and the submittal deadline is no later than 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23. 

The contractor will provide all labor, materials, equipment, supervision and permitting. Bidder prequalification is required, and the department requires that the project be designed and constructed in accordance with green building standards where applicable. 

The bid winner will be posted by Tuesday, July 30, unless extended by the department for good cause. 

Interested parties can email BDC_Contracts@dep.state.fl.us for the project manual.