Beach Nourishment

Representative Areas of Experience:

• New Projects
• Beach Nourishment
• Borrow Areas
• Dredging
• Marine Mining

Summaries of CSA International's Representative Beach Nourishment Projects

Beach Restoration Monitoring of Bahamian Aragonite Sand at Fisher Island

CSA International monitored the potential impacts of a proposed beach restoration project that used Bahamian aragonite for fill material at Fisher Island, Miami, Florida. From 1990 to 1993, seagrass and hard bottom communities located immediately offshore of the project were monitored. Benthic infaunal communities in the intertidal and subtidal beach fill area and a nearby reference area also were monitored for recolonization. Previously during 1988, CSA conducted a literature review and baseline environmental assessment of conditions to document nearshore habitats in the area of the proposed fill.

CSA conducted an environmental monitoring program associated with beach nourishment along Jupiter Island, Florida from 1987 to 1989. The program included collection and reporting of physical and biological data. CSA collected physical oceanographic data over a one-year period using a directional wave gauge, two internally recording current meters, and three transmissometers. Biological aspects included an initial survey for station establishment and baseline data collections, two monitoring surveys during dredging at approximately two-month intervals, and four additional surveys every two months after dredging. Surveys consisted of photographs of fixed benthic quadrats, photographs of individual benthic indicator species, sediment sampling and accumulation measurements, fish counts along transects, and monitoring of fishes inhabiting artificial habitats. From 1985 to 1986, CSA provided an ecological assessment of the Town of Jupiter Island's proposed beach nourishment program. The project included a description of the nearshore reef tract, a discussion of past and potential impacts, and the development of mitigation measures. A comprehensive monitoring plan also was developed.

Biological Analysis of Post-Construcation Beach Nourishment Monitoring for Broward County

CSA International conducted post-nourishment monitoring for the Environmental Quality Control Board, Erosion Prevention District, Broward County, Florida. The study entailed the completion of two major tasks. Task 1 involved identification and counts of the dominant epibiota present on hard bottom reefs, and preparation of a report comparing changes in the biota from pre- and post-construction surveys. Task 2 involved sieving, sorting, and identification of 252 soft bottom infaunal samples, analyses of density and species diversity, and preparation of a report that discussed changes in the community that may have been attributable to beach nourishment activities.

CSA International conducted a benthic monitoring program associated with a beach restoration project along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Captiva Island, Florida for the Captiva Island Erosion Prevention District. Seventeen stations were sampled for benthic macroinfauna in the borrow area, the nearshore area along the beach, and reference areas. Sampling was conducted during a pre-construction survey and four post-construction surveys from 1988 to 1992.