Inlet dredging set to start this week
JUPITER — Jupiter Beach Park is getting wider, and the Jupiter Inlet is getting deeper.
Dredging in the Jupiter Inlet is expected to start this week to scoop about 60,000 cubic yards of sand — about 3,300 dump-truck loads — from the man-made lane for boaters in the inlet.
The lane at the bottom of the inlet, called the sand trap because it traps sand the current pulls into the inlet, is about 1,100 feet long and about 200 feet wide.
That sand will be pumped through a hydraulic hose to build up Jupiter Beach Park.
The $600,000 project, being done by Deerfield Beach-based Cavache Inc., is expected to take about three weeks.
Dredging the Jupiter Inlet during the winter is an annual procedure to give boaters enough depth to pass to and from the Atlantic Ocean.
The last year the inlet was not dredged was 2008, said Mike Grella, executive director of the Jupiter Inlet District, the taxing authority paying for the project.
Boaters will be able to use the inlet while the work is being done. Buoys will be placed to mark where the hose is located, said George Gentile, JID chairman.
“The buoys will be clearly visible to boaters,” said Gentile.
The lane for boaters will be about 20 feet deep when the dredging is finished, said Grella.
Jupiter Beach Park will remain open while the sand is spread out on the park to make more beach south to the Ocean Trail condominiums. Sections will be closed while the sand is being spread out, said Gentile.
The JID, established in 1921, is an independent special taxing district made up of five elected officials. The JID boundaries are the Palm Beach/Martin County line to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, just north of PGA Boulevard to the south and Pratt Whitney Road/Beeline Highway to the west.