Juno Beach beach nourishment

[mad4wrecks]

They are dredging sand from offshore and pumping in onto the beach, just south of the Juno Beach pier.

This is a prime hunting area and I recovered some modern day jewelry and a very old coin in this area back in October.

We were just getting some decent erosion and the beach was almost down to "goodie" level, but nowhere near where there was a need to beef up the beach with tons of new sand.

Anyway, the possible bright side to this is that the dredge is anchored over an area where a very old shipwreck is reputed to have broken up. Who knows what that dredge is spitting up onto the beach!

 

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[itmaiden]

hmm bummer big time, yet like you maybe we can be hopeful that they will dump some treasure on the beach. At least they are using sand from the sea this time instead of that other filthy mess they dumped farther up the line.
Thing is they don't even blend it naturally as far as the slope that was there before. They make it so hard to walk on.

Wonder if you could manipulate the use of those dredges for some private exploration ? Maybe if you say "pretty please with sugar on top" ?

You could borrow one of those pipes or two to make your own "propwash" from the shore.

So if they are doing Juno, they are probably going all the way down the coast...
At least they are doing it in winter, so the murky water will be clear by "season".

itmaiden

They are dredging sand from offshore and pumping in onto the beach, just south of the Juno Beach pier.

Anyway, the possible bright side to this is that the dredge is anchored over an area where a very old shipwreck is reputed to have broken up. Who knows what that dredge is spitting up onto the beach!

 

[Salvor6]

So they don't have to do an archaeological survey before dredging like Texas requires?

 

[mad4wrecks]

Apparently not Pete!

 

[Salvor6]

Lets see; the State destroys our Underwater Cultural Heritage and spits it out on the beach but they will not issue any new treasure recovery leases to the treasure hunters. Go figure!

 

[PhipsFolly]

Its always worth a try but don't get you're hopes up guys... from what I understand, the dredge boats are situated inshore but the actual area where the sand is being dredged from is 3 or more miles offshore.

And I also heard that they are prepping to "renourish" the beaches in Brevard and Indian River Counties again as well...
No need for it, but I guess "they" have to justify their jobs and the usage of the tax dollars we give them somehow. And as for the water visibility clearing up by the time "season" comes around... forget it... it will take years to "normalize" after the crap they put on our beaches gets through washing out, as we have see from the last 3 years of poor dive conditions.

 

[billinstuart]

Beach sand is fairly consistent in size, and contains none of the organic fines found both offshore and inland. These fines cause the cloudiness of the water, as they stay in suspension forever.

Our coastal engineer in Martin County has retired (HOOOORRAY!!!) It's time to quit subsidizing Great Lakes dredging and others who are destroying our beaches.

 

[FISHEYE]

Tom,

Get me the name of the dredge company thats doing the work.Post it here.I want to find out what kind of equipment they are useing.

 

[Salvor6]

Ya! You need that dredging gear on your boat!

 

[mad4wrecks]

Fisheye:

I didn't get the name of the company, but here is their ship, dredging about 1/2 mile offshore.

 

[Cappy Z.]

Two questions. Is the sand dumped onto the vessel then later piped onto the shore? And I recently read where early ships ALL would get stuck in 20 feet of water or less. Is this true?

Thank you,

Cap Z.

 

[itmaiden]

I am sure the sand would pass through some type of screen/sifter first to remove larger debris.
Ask them if you can help haul the sorted debris to a dump site somewhere

itmaiden

Apparently not Pete!

I seem to recall someone showing me a mag chart with quite a few unexplored anomalies in the area where that dredge is currently anchored. The sand here is extremely deep, thus the reason the dredging "pit" is so close to shore.

 

[mad4wrecks]

You are correct ITmaiden, it appears the larger material is sifted out. However, I did have a chance to examine the "outfall" last night and there are some fairly large sized shells and shell fragments that would indicate that coins, pottery shards, porcelain shards, musketballs etc.. would pass through the dredge and onto the beach.

Like I said, the dredge is sitting in a prime area so the beach might be worth detecting once they are finished smoothing out all that sand.

 

[itmaiden]

hmm, need to get down there, but that area is not on my schedule in the next 2-3 months.
Nothing like a tease for a TH.

Wish you much luck !

itmaiden

You are correct ITmaiden, it appears the larger material is sifted out. However, I did have a chance to examine the "outfall" last night and there are some fairly large sized shells and shell fragments that would indicate that coins, pottery shards, porcelain shards, musketballs etc.. would pass through the dredge and onto the beach.

Like I said, the dredge is sitting in a prime area so the beach might be worth detecting once they are finished smoothing out all that sand.

 

[ivan salis]

I know those ships very very well -- their the "island type" -- hopper dredges --dodge island , padre island, northerly island ( a smaller one)---- ( hell I should, since I used to be part of the crew ( messhand / cook) on two of em from 81 thru 84 ) their hopper dredges --ran by natco* -- a part of great lakes dredge and dock outfit -- out of oak brook ill, ask me anything --they got long arms that drag on the botton sucking up anything down there --they run the stuff via pipes thru a huge impeller --and pump it on shore or they can fill their hopper hold and the go out and dump it by opening in two over a selected dump spot.

fairly large sized items can and do filter thru the "pumps"

 

[itmaiden]

So answer me this...Did the state send divers down first to make sure they were not disturbing anything important before the dredge was assigned to that area ?

itmaiden

 

[FISHEYE]

The state is supposed to hire divers and a archie to do a survey before they dredge.Also they are supposed to do mag and side scan surveys as well.And core samples and sub bottom profiling.Did they do the correct survey?Who knows.It should be public info posted on a website somewhere.A few years ago when i had my boat docked at finns marina a dive boat rented a slip there.One day i saw them loading up a bunch of tanks so i went to ask where they were diving.The capt said they were contracted by the state to dive from sebastian inlet to ft pierce inside the 3 mile limit to do a survey before they did offshore dredging to replenish the beaches.There was about 6 divers plus the capt.I asked if anyone of them was a archie and they said no.Then i asked what they do if they find artifacts or gold and silver.The capt said they had to gps it and not touch it.I then asked if they ever say anything and they said no.They were working thier way up from ft pierce for the survey.All i saw on the boat was dive equipment and goodie bags and 1 speargun.No electronics other than a GPS and chart plotter.The boat stayed at the slip for about a month.They left around 3am one night.Hmmm

 

[Diver_Down]

I know those ships very very well -- their the "island type" -- hopper dredges --dodge island , padre island, northerly island ( a smaller one)---- ( hell I should, since I used to be part of the crew ( messhand / cook) on two of em from 81 thru 84 ) their hopper dredges --ran by natco* -- a part of great lakes dredge and dock outfit -- out of oak brook ill, ask me anything --they got long arms that drag on the botton sucking up anything down there --they run the stuff via pipes thru a huge impeller --and pump it on shore or they can fill their hopper hold and the go out and dump it by opening in two over a selected dump spot.

fairly large sized items can and do filter thru the "pumps"

Indeed, it happens. The last time St. Augustine underwent renourishment, the source of the dredge was from the inlet where many wrecks are located. There are rumors of a MD'er uncovering a silver bar in the spoils. They are supposed to renourish the beach again. I'll be setting my alarm for some night hunts.

 

[Sorroque]

Remember the mine flailers of WW2? It was a Sherman Tank equipped with huge chains that rotated on a spindle. Theses chains would spin on the spindle and detonate mines.
Okay.
Do we really need these coral reefs along the shore? Does nature need these coral reefs along shore? Not allowed to dive on them. What are their purpose?
They lock in so much treasure. The coins, gold, and jewelry are forever concreted into these things.
Get a dredge ship, affix these flailers to them, pulverise the reefs into powder and use these dredging ships to pump the stuff onto the beach!
Jeez. You should read all the rules for going to the beach these days. The sign should read YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING NOW GO HOME!
No open containers.
No pets.
No fires.
No Snorkeling.
No scuba Diving.
No glass.
No nudity.
And a whole lot of more NO'S! I cannot remember.

Febuary 4th., modification. Has anyone found any goodies along the renourishment yet?

 

[ivan salis]

forgot to add no driving on the beach * as a kid we always drove on the beach to and from our spot where choose to use -- now gotta "park and pay" and then walk to where you plan to sit and picnic dragging all your stuff with you.