Under the proposal, seven concrete groins will run perpendicular to the shor
stretching up to 75 feet out into the ocean. This conceptual drawing shows the groins uncovered,
but they will be buried under 7 feet of sand. The sand will gradually wash away and the beach will need
renourishment every two or three years.
Conceptual drawing provided by Palm Beach County
By Dan Moffett
Mayor Bonnie Fischer and Town Manager Bob Vitas are going door-to-door along the South Palm Beach oceanfront, selling the town’s beach restoration plan to residents.
Much of their campaign is spent debunking rumors and distortions. But their main focus is getting 16 easements from the 16 property owners on the 5/8-mile coastline.
“If one says no, then we don’t have a project,” Vitas said.
The easements will allow engineers and surveyors to begin setting the stage for the installation of seven groins that officials hope will restore the town’s shrinking beaches and slow erosion for maybe — just maybe — the next 50 years.
The $5 million restoration plan for South Palm Beach is nearly 10 years in the making and is built on a partnership between governments that have committed to split the bill: The federal government will pay 50 percent of the project, the county will pay 30 percent from its tourism bed tax coffers, and the town will have to cover the remaining 20 percent.
South Palm Beach has been putting money away for years, even during the Great Recession, and has $1.5 million in reserves earmarked for restoration.
But nothing happens unless Fischer and Vitas sell the 16 property owners — mostly condominium association boards — on allowing the easements.
“Things have been going well so far,” Fischer said. “But there are so many rumors and so much false information out there.”
Much of the confusion stems from a poor understanding of groins. What are they and how will they work?
Groins are concrete panels that are mounted on concrete support piles. Think of them as similar in structure to the concrete sound walls that are erected along Interstate 95 to shield neighborhoods from noise.
The seven groins will run perpendicular to the shoreline, some of them stretching as far as 75 feet into the ocean. Once the groins are installed, you won’t know they’re there, engineers promise, because they will be buried under 7 feet of sand and planted deep into the ocean’s hard bottom. The groins will not be attached to the condo seawalls.
Over time, the ocean will take its toll, gradually carrying the sand away from the groins. Engineers expect that every two or three years more sand will have to be brought in to keep the groins covered. The cost of this replenishment is expected to average about $200,000 a year and is the town’s responsibility to pay.
The goal of the project is to stabilize the town’s shoreline and maintain about 75 feet of beach from one end of South Palm Beach to the other.
Fischer and Vitas say they hope to have the 16 property owners committed to allowing the easements by the end of April. The county then could sign off in June on beginning the survey work.
But the heavy construction is still many months away. The target date for beginning installation of the groins is somewhere between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, Fischer said.
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