The City of Key West, Florida, has officially begun the sand replenishment operations on their white sandy beaches.
The project started on May 21, with beach fill work on Smather’s Beach on South Roosevelt Blvd. The scheme, which is expected to last about two weeks, is a painstakingly careful project because of nesting turtles.
“ Each morning, volunteers walk the beach searching for new nests and signs of turtle crawls before the beach is cleaned. Then the sand replenishment begins ,” the city said in its release.
According their latest project update, the city will be replenishing the sand on Dog and Simonton Beaches on the morning of Saturday, June 1st. The work will require beach closures, but the closures should only last a few hours.
South Beach sand replenishment will be done on Monday and Tuesday, June 3rd and 4th, during which time that beach will be closed.
All of these beautification projects – about $1.2 million – are funded by the Ft. Zachary Taylor surcharge.