The Canaveral Harbor Inlet Sand Bypass Project has earned the top state ranking for 2014/15 inlet management funding. As a result, Port Canaveral is expected to receive $100,500 in grant funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for beach renourishment.
To date, Port Canaveral has spent more than $2 million on the sand bypass and related beach restoration projects, leveraging more than $2.2M in additional state funds and more than $45 million from the US Army Corps of Engineers. According to Dr. William Stronge, every $1 spent on beach projects generated almost $48 in sales tax revenue last year.
“ We recognize the importance of our beaches to Brevard County and the state’s economy, ” said Port Canaveral CEO John E. Walsh . “ That’s why we continue to work locally and at the state and federal levels to identify the resources needed to protect our valuable resource.”
Since 1992, these funds have been used to develop and implement the transfer of 4 million cubic yards of sand from the north side of the inlet to the beaches south of the inlet, raising and extending the inlet’s jetties to retain sand upon the beaches, re-establishment of the sand dunes, improvements to Jetty Park, ensure the return of sand dredged from the inlet to the near-shore seabed, and establishment of the Brevard County Federal Shore Protection Project.
These projects have restored the dunes and beach shorelines along the City of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, extending 10 miles south of the Port, to their original condition and width observed in the early 1950’s.
The project has been recognized both nationally and internationally as among the most successful inlet sand management programs in the world, where engineers are challenged to meet the physical requirements for deep ship channels while maintaining wide, healthy sand beaches next to the channels’ coastal inlets.
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Press Release, April 17, 2014