Brevard Beach Restoration Resumes After Pausing for Sea Turtle Nesting Season

In late 2022, Hurricanes Ian and Nicole caused severe erosion to Brevard county’s shoreline. In response, the county began repairing the damage to the South Beaches in early 2023 with the goal of getting much of it done before the start of hurricane season in June. Additionally, because of sea turtle nesting season, all restoration work was halted on the South Beaches on April 30th.

Now, as peak nesting season ends, beach restoration work will begin again in November and continue until April 2024. This time, the project will focus on more than 11 miles of beach from Patrick Space Force Base south to Spessard Holland Beach Park in Melbourne Beach. This includes Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, and Indialantic (see map below).

The $47.6 million federally funded contract was awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will replenish an estimated 1.1 million cubic yards of sand, which will be dredged from a site eight nautical miles offshore from Port Canaveral.

To learn more about Brevard County’s beach restoration initiatives, see the Beach Management Program website of Brevard’s Natural Resources Department.

Sources:

• Brevard to Begin Costly Beach Erosion Repairs in 2023 (mynews13.com)

• $50M in Funds to Go Toward Replenishing Brevard County Beaches (wesh.com)

• Brevard County Beach Renourishment Project Set to Repair Storm Erosion (mynews13.com)