Buxton Beach Nourishment Update Thursday November 16, 2017

Thursday, November 16, 2017

The hopper dredge R.N. Weeks remained in safe harbor in Jacksonville, Florida over the past week. The repairs on the dredge have been completed, and the dredge was scheduled to be put back in the water and have the US Coast Guard inspection yesterday (November 15). If everything goes as planned, the dredge will leave Jacksonville today (November 16) and is expected to arrive in Buxton Saturday evening or Sunday morning. The weather forecast shows workable conditions from Sunday to Wednesday of next week. If this forecast holds true, the dredge will resume pumping shortly after its return to the jobsite.

Before operations were shut down last Monday, Weeks Marine reported that ~1,222,575 cubic yards of sand has been placed on the beach. This volume is equivalent to ~47% of the project total (2,600,000 cubic yards). Once the dredge is back in Buxton, work will resume approximately 700 feet south of the first building in Buxton and proceed south until it reaches the southern boundary of the project.

Weeks Marine reports that sea trials of the larger hopper dredge Magdalen have been progressing smoothly and their engineering team is working on the pre-dredging drawings and documents that will be submitted to the Corps of Engineers. An estimated date for arrival of the larger dredge will be announced once the timeframe is established.

[stop by our office to get your ‘soon to be collector item’ T-shirts].