Monday, June 23, 2014

Carlin sand plan may mean 12,000 truck trips through Jupiter | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

These beach renourishment projects are having a difficult time finding sand, and with that costs increase. Keep in mind that a renourished beach has a life of maybe three years. There will come a time when it will be cost prohibitive to keep this up. Click title for link.
Bids for the Carlin Park program came in much higher than expected – ranging from $23 million to $27 million. “That’s almost double what we’d hoped for,’’ said Dan Bates, deputy director for the Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management office.
The problem, Bates said, is that the “borrow area,’’ in about 75 feet of water a half mile off shore from Singer Island, contains sand with rocks that need to screened out, a process that drives up the costs.
Now, the county is considering a cheaper option — to mine inland sand from St. Lucie County and truck it to Carlin Park, where the beach stretches for roughly one mile south from the Jupiter Inlet.
“We are taking ancient beach sand and taking it out to the present beach,’’ Bates said.