Intracoastal Waterway to be dredged this winter

The Florida Inland Navigation District plans to dredge the Intracoastal Waterway between the Port of Palm Beach and the Town Marina this winter.

A contractor will dredge a 4.5-mile stretch of the waterway to a depth of 10 to 12 feet below average low tide, said Mark Crosley, executive director of the district, which is locally based in Jupiter. The channel is 125 feet wide.

“We have not dredged this section in a long time,” Crosley said. “We, hopefully, won’t be back for long time again.”

The dredging facilitates both residential use and marine commerce in the Intracoastal, he said. The waterway’s economic impacts are far reaching, including waterfront property values, tax revenue and recreation.

“All of the marinas are on the Intracoastal Waterway,” Crosley said. “All the recreational boats would not be able to exist without the Intracoastal Waterway and the inlets out to the ocean.”

The project comes at a time when the town is planning a $32 million upgrade of its lucrative marina in 2020-21. All facilities will be modernized and the number of slips increased by three to 83.

Deputy Town Manager Jay Boodheshwar said the dredging “will be beneficial to current and future customers of the Town Docks, especially those who own larger vessels that require a deeper draft. With a complete reconstruction of the docks on the near horizon, the timing of this project is welcome news.”

Sealed bids were accepted until last Thursday and will be opened this week. If the low bidder is deemed qualified, its proposal will go before the district’s board of directors for approval later this month.

Work should begin in January and take about six months to complete, Crosley said. Plans show the project will start at the Port of Palm Beach and proceed south.

Impacts to marine traffic during that period should be minimal, Crosley said.

About 90,000 cubic yards of material will be deposited at the district’s 17-acre “material management area” north of Peanut Island.

An old 5-inch AT&T abandoned conduit that lies within channel bottom will be removed as part of the project.

Crosley estimated the project cost at between $1 million and $5 million.

The Florida Inland Navigation District is a special state taxing district created by the Florida Legislature in 1927 as the state sponsor to manage and maintain the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which is a federal channel.

“We’ve got this huge economic engine and we do our best to keep it open,” Crosley said.