BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – The Mexico Beach Refeeding Project is a large-scale project that will cover 3 miles of beach at a cost of $27 million.
When Hurricane Michael hit the area in 2018, most of the sand was washed away, along with many buildings. Six years later, officials say they are ready to nourish the beach again for the first time ever.
Mexico Beach council members are moving forward with a multi-phase developer project
“This project was already in the works before Hurricane Michael. So essentially me and my team and my great counterparts, the Bay County TDC, Bay County Board of County Commissioners, have been helping on this project for almost eight years. So we’re very excited to see it become a reality. We are excited to break ground and really enhance what is already a great beach because that is essentially what this project will do,” said Kimberly Shoaf, president of the Mexico Beach Community Development Council.
Weeks Marine Construction Company arrives on site. They will deploy their equipment to extract one million cubic meters of sand from a borrowed sand site with the same quality of sand as Mexico Beach.
Then they use a dredger to dig up that sand, bring it to the beach and spread it out.
Mexico Beach will bring electric charging stations to the city
“And the project consists of both a beach berm and a dune widening. So different parts of Mexico Beach will only have reinforcement of the dune itself, while the rest of Mexico Beach will have reinforcement of the dune and shoreline,” Shoaf said.
It will begin the week of January 6 and is expected to be completed by April 15. By strengthening the dunes, residents are better protected against storms.
“We will be expanding the beach and replenishing, rebuilding or reconstructing the dunes to provide greater storm protection and immediate beautification in the future,” said Mexico Beach City Administrator Chris Truitt.
The project is funded entirely with federal and state dollars.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit mypanhandle.com.
