PHASE V PROJECT ARCHIVE

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

The Canaveral Harbor Federal Sand Bypass Project (Phase V) will dredge 1,340,000 cubic yards of sand from the shoreline north of Port Canaveral and place the sand along 3.5 miles of shoreline south of the inlet during November 2018 through April 2019. The project transfers sand from north to south across the inlet that is otherwise interrupted from natural drift by the federal inlets, jetties, and channel. This is the fifth construction of the sand bypass project since its inception in 1995. The sand placement will initially widen the beach by about 150 feet, after which the sand will drift southward, maintaining Brevard’s beaches at their historical dimensions. The Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) is the project sponsor. Construction is managed and funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers, with additional funding by the CPA and Florida Dept of Environmental Protection, and logistical support from the USAF 45th Space Wing and Brevard County. The construction contractor is Norfolk Dredging Company. There will be temporary beach access closures for 2 or 3 days while construction moves north-to-south along the beach. See the project website for updated schedule information. Project updates and progress maps will be posted more or less weekly on this page during the duration of construction.

Current Project Map (PDF Format)

 

PROJECT STATUS UPDATES

DATE: 1 May 2019

Dredge and sand placement was completed on April 3oth. The contractor is currently demobilizing equipment from the beach at the Washington Avenue access. The beach will be tilled to prepare for marine turtle nesting from May 9-11th. The project successfully transferred over 1.35 million cubic yards of sand across the inlet.

DATE: 23 April 2019

The Contractor completed sand bypass placement south of the Pier, extending to about California Avenue (about 800 feet south of the Pier) on Sunday 21 April. Beach fill placement then re-commenced north of the Pier at about Polk Avenue (about 1.2 miles north of the Pier) and will continue southward until the project fill is completed – anticipated to be between about Arthur and McKinley Avenues (about ½ mile north of the Pier). That is, the final 8% of the 2019 sand bypass beach fill volume (about 110,000 cubic yards of sand) will be placed along the central-south segment of the fill area shoreline, rather than along the southernmost ½-mile of the shoreline (from California Avenue to SR520/Cocoa Beach Causeway), to better ensure that the dredging activity for the entire 1,340,000 cubic yard project can be mostly completed prior to the start of the main marine turtle nesting season which begins on 1 May. With forecasted favorable seas this week (so far), and barring unexpected equipment issues, it is anticipated that the dredging and sand fill placement may be completed by about 1 May. After that, demobilization of the dredging equipment and pipes off the beach, and tilling of the beach (to better prepare it for marine turtle nesting), would be then completed within the following week, more or less. The temporary submerged pipeline across the inlet channel’s seabed will be removed. Actual schedules may vary slightly. At its conclusion, essentially all of the project’s target sand accumulation north of the inlet (since the project’s last construction in 2010) will have been transferred by the dredge to the City of Cape Canaveral and north Cocoa Beach shoreline south of the inlet. The placed sand will gradually drift further southward along Brevard’s beaches. In this way, the project reduces the potential for sand to shoal the Port’s entrance channel from the north during future storms, and it simultaneously renourishes and maintains Brevard’s beaches to the south, by transferring sand from north-to-south across the inlet.

DATE: 18 April 2019

As of this week, the dredge has completed transfer of nearly 1,200,000 cubic yards of sand across the inlet, with placement on the beach from the Port Canaveral south jetty to the Cocoa Beach Pier. They are about 90% done with the work. The dredge will head into Canaveral Harbor on Thursday through at least Saturday night, while another small weather front moves through. Because the large dredge must work very near to the shoreline, north of the inlet, operations and safety are sensitive to even modest-size waves and adverse winds that reach the shore. As of Thursday morning, April 18^th, sand placement had progressed underneath and just south of the Cocoa Beach Pier. Most of the heavy sand placement equipment was being transferred to the south side of the pier. It is presently anticipated that all, or mostly all, of the dredging and sand placement will be completed by April 30^th. But in case of weather or other delays, a 15-day extension was added to the construction calendar, to be sure that all of the work will be completed – and all of the equipment will be completely moved off of the beach – on or before May 15, 2019.

DATE: 27 March 2019

Beach fill construction is ongoing.

DATE: 21 March 2019

Beach fill construction is ongoing.  The Contractor is averaging, overall, about 10,000 cubic yards per day since dredging started in late December.  Dredging is suspended on and off each week, as a function of weather (and some minor mechanical delays). The dredge operates very close to the shoreline north of the Port Canaveral inlet (almost on top of it), and so it cannot operate safely when there are waves of more than a couple feet high, or winds more than about 10 knots.

DATE: 7 March 2019

Beach fill construction is ongoing.  Dredge operations have been periodically interrupted by weather.  Construction is anticipated to be complete by April 30, 2019.

DATE: 14 February 2019

Beach fill construction is ongoing.  Activities are currently located just south of Jefferson Avenue in the City of Cape Canaveral and heading southward.  Construction is anticipated to be complete by April 30, 2019.

DATE: 17 January 2019

The dredge was in Port Canaveral during part of January 10-14 for weather, returned for work during January 14-16, and will head back into port briefly for a few mechanical adjustments from late January 16 to early January 18.  During the weekend of January 19-21, we expect that the dredge may also suspend work for at least a few hours while seas and winds arise from a passing cold front.   During the coming week of January 21, beach fill will continue along the area of Cherie Down Park to Washington Avenue.

DATE: 3 January 2019

Dredging and beach fill resumed on December 30 and shall continue mostly uninterrupted through April, excepting rough seas and equipment maintenance. Beach fill placement is proceeding southward from the northern end of the City of Cape Canaveral beach and is expected to reach the area around Cherie Down Park (Washington Avenue) by the last week of January.

DATE: 19 December 2018

The dredge CHARLESTON has completed sand placement along Jetty Park and through about 1500-feet south of the inlet’s jetty. The dredge will be temporarily shut down from 19 December through 26 December. Work will resume early on 27 December, seas permitting. At that time, sand placement will commence at about 1500-feet south of the inlet and proceed southward at up to about 300 feet per day.

DATE: 14 December 2018

Dredging and placement of sand to the beach began on December 6.  The sand placement began at about 1/3’rd mile south of the Canaveral Harbor south jetty and is proceeding northward to Jetty Park. Toward the end of December, sand placement will resume south of Jetty Park (around Solana Shores Drive) and proceed southward toward Cocoa Beach.

DATE: 16 November 2018

Norfolk Dredging Company is mobilizing support vessels, construction equipment, and dredge pipeline to the job site to begin the work. They are currently excavating the “trench” across the Port Canaveral Entrance channel into which a temporary pipeline will be placed to transport the dredged sand from north of the inlet to the beach south of the inlet. The 24-inch diameter pipeline will be placed just below the seabed of the inlet channel so that ships can pass over it without obstruction.

Most of the dredging and beach fill equipment will be initially mobilized to the beach at Washington Avenue (City of Cape Canaveral) and Jetty Park. The dredge “Charleston” that will pump the sand through the pipe, across the inlet and onto the beach, is tentatively anticipated to arrive during the last week of November. Weather and seas permitting, sand bypass and beach fill is currently anticipated to commence at the end of November or first week of December, 2018. Placement of sand fill upon the beach will begin about ¼-mile south of the inlet, progress northward to place fill along the Jetty Park area, and then continue southward, placing sand continuously through the City of Cape Canaveral and north Cocoa Beach – to about 0.6 miles south of the Pier – through late April 2019.

The beach fill placement will progress southward along the shoreline by about 100 to 150 feet each day. Locally, the beach will be temporarily closed to public access within about 1000 feet of the daily beach fill construction activity (that is, for a few days at each beach access location) as the construction progresses southward.

Progress maps that depict the current beach fill location and projected schedule of the beach fill construction activity will be posted on this website and updated approximately weekly once construction begins.