Since the first temporary T-groins were installed at Upham Beach at the north end of St. Pete Beach in 2006 to slow sand erosion, and repaired in 2011, the community has looked toward a more permanent solution.
Andy Squires, Pinellas County Coastal and Freshwater Resources Section Manager, told Paradise News, “Construction of permanent improvements are expected to begin early next year. Estimated to cost about $11 million, it will be paid for by Pinellas County and state of Florida funds. Estimated cost for construction is $8.8 million, and the cost for nourishment is estimated at $2.2 million.
“Pinellas County was appropriated $3 million from the state during the 2015 legislative session to share in the cost of the project, and the county will seek additional state matching funds next year. Total project costs will be shared between the state and the county’s bed tax allocation dedicated to beach stabilization and nourishment.
“Four permanent T-groin rock structures will replace five sand-filled temporary T-groins that have been in place since 2005-6, and repaired in 2011, to stem erosion at Upham, which is among the highest eroding beaches in the state. (See Paradise News, June/July 2011 issue.)
“We are working with CB&I, our coastal engineering consultants since the project began, to complete construction bid criteria for the T-groins. We expect to advertise for bids and award the contract by year-end. Construction would start early next year, with completion hoped for later in 2016.
“As with the permanent T-groins installed at Honeymoon Island State Park, the rock structures are expected to perform better in slowing erosion and holding sand on the beach than the temporary sand-filled geotubes. Once the rock structures are installed, the beach is then planned to be renourished with approximately 150,000 cubic yards of sand.”
Commenting on the approval of the project, Pinellas County Commission Chairman John Morroni told Paradise News, “These permanent T-groins will have a very positive impact against erosion in the area. This project will also save the taxpayers money in the long run since we will no longer have to replace the current structures due to vandalism.”
State Rep. Kathleen Peters, whose district includes St. Pete Beach, said, “I’m glad to see that this project is moving forward and certainly happy to see such great strides to ensuring our beautiful beaches are maintained.”
Mohamed Dabees, Vice President & Senior Coastal Modeler at Humiston & Moore Engineers (HM), Naples, told Paradise News, “We have multiple locations in southwest and central Florida where permanent T-groins were built, including the first Phase of Honeymoon Island State Park beach project in Pinellas County. Phase one in 2007 included one prototype T-groin to assess performance. Based on successful erosion containment, three more were designed, permitted and are currently under construction with completion soon.”
“The HM T-groins are designed as permeable structures to protect the beach in their vicinity while allowing adequate sand to bypass to adjacent beaches. Our first temporary installation was placed on Hideaway Beach in 1997 at the north end of Marco Island, with the first permanent T-groin constructed in 2005, followed by others in 2010 and 2012-13. Other installations in southwest Florida include projects in north Captiva Island (Lee County) in1998, north of Gordon Pass in Naples where two were built in 2000 and Keewaydin Island (Collier County) with the initial permanent T-groin in 2003 and phase two in 2013.”
Recent Beach Funding Action
At the June 23 meeting of the Barrier Islands Government Council (BIG-C), Indian Shores Vice Mayor Bill Smith reported, “The Florida Legislature appropriated $32 million statewide for beach projects, about $18 million less than we hoped for. The main point is that of the $32 million, the Amendment 1 trust fund provided $25 million.” Smith is the BIG-C’s beach nourishment expert and its representative to the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association (FSBPA).
Smith continued, “Of the $32 million, $3 million was allocated toward reconstruction of permanent T-groins at Upham Beach. The state can fund up to 50% of the cost. The total amount requested this budget cycle was 50 percent of $9.1 million, or $4.55 million.”
He asked State Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-South Pasadena, if county officials should wait another year to receive additional funding and then start the project. Peters said, “I do not recommend waiting. That project should have been funded last year. It went from the top of the list to the bottom and then back up to the top of the list. So I recommend they (county officials) take it because there’s no promise (of what will be available next year).”
This led to the County green-lighting the Upham Beach permanent T-groins project and going after additional funding in the 2016 State Legislative session.
As noted in an earlier Beach Beacon article, on the federal funding front, County Commission Chairman John Morroni, BIG-C president, Treasure Island Mayor Bob Minning and Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos ,recently sent letters to Congressman David Jolly, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson requesting their continued support of funding for shore projects with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“As you know, our beaches are vital to the economic health of Pinellas County and we strongly support adequate additional funding for beach nourishment activities,” Morroni wrote. “Please continue to support adequate funding for shore protection projects within the final version of the FY2016 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill.”
The House version of the bill includes $45 million in additional funding for shore protection, but the Senate version has eliminated funding for beach projects. “We understand roughly $40 million remains unallocated from the Corps’ FY2015 work plan, ” Morroni wrote. “However, we are extremely concerned about the precedent the Senate mark may set for shore protection funding in the future and its impact of the allocation of funds at the state level.”
Brief History of Upham T-groins
As noted in the June/July 2011 issue, the original $1.5 million project completed in 2005 (Paradise News, April 2005 issue) was a huge cooperative effort involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the State of Florida, Pinellas County and the City of St. Pete Beach. Upham Beach, one of the local beaches most susceptible to erosion, had been renourished with new sand since 1975 along with other local beaches, at a cost to that point of almost $10 million from the Federal government and the State.
Designed to slow down sand erosion, making renourishment necessary over a longer and cost-saving period of years, the original T-groins installed by Hydraulitall are made of a geotextile material woven with strong tensile strength, and then filled with sand. Each of the groins, running from in front of the Starlight Towers and Envoy Point condos at the north to the Silver Sands complex at the south, has up to six tubes that are pyramided in the shape of a T-head in the water. They are varying lengths, from 75 to 200 feet perpendicular, with T-heads from 100 to 190 feet, dependent on the waterline, sandbars and currents.
Once more permanent structures are put in place, estimates on total cost-saving in renourishment run as high as $31 million by 2033, according to Coastal Planning & Consulting (now CB&I), the firm hired by the County to supervise the project. The repair project by Gator Dredging Company of Pinellas Park, which cost about $804,000, ran into problems early-on that caused extensive delays, with final completion later in 2011.
Responding to some objections to the project from local groups, Andy Squires, County Coastal Manager noted: “The USF monitoring work has shown that 38% more sand was held at Upham Beach two years following nourishment with the geotube structures installed, compared to two years following nourishment without structures installed (USF Report to Pinellas County, May 2009). “
“Aside from this monitoring data, the geotubes have clearly helped maintain a wider beach with the exception of the area where the tubes have been damaged, which is why they need to be repaired. Furthermore, no negative downdrift impacts have been observed by the installation of the temporary groin field. The groin field has successfully held some sand while still releasing sand to downdrift beaches, thereby preventing negative downdrift impacts. The bottom line for Upham Beach today is a longer, wider beach needing less sand renourishment at a considerable cost-savings.”
Summing up the overall results of the new project, St. Pete Beach Mayor Maria Lowe told Paradise News, “The City has been supportive of the T-groins at Upham Beach from the start, and we all recognize that these permanent structures are critical to beach stabilization and the protection of other properties along our shoreline. John Kretzer, our Interim Public Facilities Director, is our point person on the project, and will be working with Andy Squires, the County Coastal Manager, and Tom Pierro at CB&I, the project’s coastal engineering consultant since it began in 2005.”
Diagram Courtesy of Pinellas County. Photo by Ray Gottleib. Story by Steve Traiman.
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Andy Squires and Mohamed Dabees for their comments and images, and to Rep. Kathleen Peters, Commissioner John Morroni, Vice Mayor Bill Smith and Mayor Maria Lowe for their remarks.] [Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman in St. Pete Beach, offering freelance business writing services. He can be reached via email at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com.]