Manatee County gives update on fall beach renourishment for AMI

Beach renourishment projects for Anna Maria Island are on the fall calendar.

Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department, updated county commissioners Feb. 12 on beach renourishment plans, including the area from 79th Street in Holmes Beach south to Longboat Pass.

The first project is a minor repair to Coquina Beach, using sand dredged from Longboat Pass to replenish the beach in Bradenton Beach.

The second project, beginning in November with completion by July 2020, will cover the beachfront from 79th Street in Holmes Beach to Fifth Street South in Bradenton Beach.

The section of work is known as the central beach project and is authorized to receive federal funding. At a total cost of $16 million, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will pay 54 percent. The state and county will split the remainder.

The third project will begin at Fifth Street South and end at Longboat Pass, at a total cost of $4 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will shoulder 75 percent of the cost, with the state and county sharing the remainder.

For the third project, Hunsicker plans to coordinate with the contractor hired for the central beach project by the Army Corps of Engineers to avoid additional mobilization costs.

At a total cost of around $20 million, the projects would replace more than 700,000 cubic yards of sand lost to erosion. Dredging from an offshore sandbar of beach-quality sand will be carried in pipes to the beach.