OCEAN INLET SHORELINE STABILIZATION

Categories: /30 Dec 2011

Client
Great Lakes Dock & Dredge:
(for Army Corps)

Location
Boca Raton, Florida

Engineer of Record
Coastal Planning & Engineering

Date of Completion
March 2004

Contract Bond
$1.3 Million

Boca Raton Inlet is a natural ocean inlet located in southern Palm Beach County within the City of Boca Raton which connects the Atlantic Ocean with adjacent inshore tidal waters. In 2004, sand derived from offshore borrow areas was pumped onto to the beach north of the inlet as part of a major beach renourishment project performed by the Great Lakes Dock & Dredge Company.

In an effort to help stabilize the newly renourished beach, provide protection for the Boca Raton Beach Club and the jetty, a subsurface limestone boulder groin system was designed by the firm of Coastal Planning and Engineering. The project required Shoreline Foundation to excavate a 215 lineal foot by 45 lineal foot trench parallel to the shore and create a foundation consisting of crushed limestone rock encased in a heavily woven plastic material. On top of this “cribbed” layer, meticulously selected limestone boulders were stacked tightly and the entire structure was then buried in the sand. The contract also included restoration of the jetty structure on the north side of the Boca Raton Inlet. The jetty was reinforced by placing additional sections of cribbed crushed limestone and an additional 3,500 tons of limestone boulder.

All of this work was carefully coordinated by Shoreline Foundation, to minimize interference with nesting sea turtles and tourists enjoying the beach.