The Town of Palm Beach initially restored the Reach 7 beaches surrounding Phipps Ocean Park in 2006 as a “feeder beach” via placement of about 1.1M cubic yards of sand over 1.4 miles of beach. In 2016, the Town completed the first maintenance nourishment project via placement of about 1M cubic yards of sand. This project won an American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) 2017 “Best Restored Beach” award.
For the initial 2006 project, Coastal Tech:
- mapped and characterized hardbottom;
- applied the GENESIS and SBEACH numerical models to support design;
- mapped and characterized nearshore hardbottom;
- designed a mitigation reef;
- developed an EIS per USACE regulations;
- obtained USACE and FDEP permits for the beach-fill and mitigation reef;
- prepared construction plans and Technical Specifications; and
- oversaw construction of a mitigation reef.
For the 2016 maintenance nourishment project, Coastal Tech:
- applied the Mike21 numerical model to evaluate alternatives – including groins which were concluded would maintain a minimal recreation beach, but would not significantly increase protection of upland property;
- evaluated the initial maintenance and annual costs of each alternative;
- assessed the ability of each alternative to meet Town objectives;
- performed detailed analysis of geotechnical data by others to delineate the offshore borrow area including “maximum cut depths”;
- obtained FDEP and USACE permits; and
- prepared construction plans and Technical Specifications – used by the Town for bidding and construction.