Park Shore Beach Project Underway Despite “Angry Seas”

By Pam Nicholls, GSAC Board Member
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Collier County’s Park Shore Beach Re-nourishment project started on schedule on January 6, 2025. Two weeks in, approximately 45,000 tons of sand has been delivered to the northern section of the project.

Project manager Larry Humphries told the newsletter that “angry seas” had prevented the completion of the section just north of Naples Cay but that the sand stacked along the dune area here will be placed into position once conditions are favorable.

The intention of the Park Shore project is to return the beach to its standard 85 ft width, (measured from the mean high water mark to the dune line) after natural erosion and multiple recent storms have noticeably diminished it.

The amount of sand needed to restore the stretch of beach from Naples Cay to Lausanne has jumped from 160,000 tons to 312,000 tons. For those living along GSBN, they can expect another two plus months of the dawn to dusk, six-day-a-week sand haul. According to officials, the Horizon Way beach access, the hub of construction operations, will remain closed for the duration of the project due to be completed by early April.

Humphries confirmed that the planting of the dunes will follow as soon as possible once each section of beach is completed. The planting area will extend seaward of the dune line and be broken into two zones. The width of each zone might vary, but Humphries expects 25’ feet for each zone would be a realistic estimate. Sea Oats and Bitter Panicum are the primary species to be planted, with diversity species making up 35% of the planting total in Zone 2.

For those South of Lausanne to Doctors Pass, Humphries said “a portion” of the sand they are placing “will migrate down the beach and re-nourish that area.”