Thursday, November 12, 2026
Height of berm and escarpment on the Northern tip (see the No Dog Allowed sign) and walkers at the bottom of the berm. According to Dabees, they have not graded the area by the north tip until they are close to the end of the Project (Feb. 15th) waiting after nature equilibrates (balance it) in the coming week.
The anticipated end date for the project is mid-February, before the start of shorebird nesting season.
Berm height and escarpment looking South. According to Mohammed Dabees of Humiston and Moore, this is an active construction area and not walkable; it is steep and a truck highway only. Both sides will be graded and elevation adjusted at the end of the project.
According to Mohammed Dabees of Humiston and Moore, during Milton, the South portion of the berm collapsed into the mangroves burying it deep in sand. They are currently removing sand from the mangrove roots using high water pressure.
According to Mohammed Dabees of Humiston and Moore, they have moved over 100,000 to 150,000 yards of sand at a cost of about $5 a yard. If you bring in sand from upland, it will cost about $100/yard. The project was designed where a sand trap and a flow channel trapthe sand and reuseit.
The berm project at Sand Dollar Island is entering its sixth week in the maintenance, repair, and restoration post impacts from Tropical Storm Debby, Hurricanes Helene and Milton. At the January 16th meeting for the Hideaway Beach Taxing District, Mohammed Dabees, Senior Engineer from Humiston and Moore, provided an update.
According to Dabees, the storms created a breach that extended over 2,000 feet in length (north to south), where the South portion of the berm collapsed into the mangroves after Milton. Dabeesaddedthat the restoration started with creating a temporary dike to cut across the breach, and it is also the off and on ramps for the construction trucks. Now, they are in the process of removing the dike and also removing the sand along the mangrove shoreline to re-open the waterway all the way to Tigertail Lagoon at the southern tip.
What is the process used to remove sand from the mangroves? According to Dabees, they removed the sand that was piled on the mangrove roots using water pressure to wash off the sand on top of the mangrove roots.
What about the escarpment (steep slope) on the berm? According to Dabees, whenever you have any kind of beach placement or renourishment, it is expected to have escarpment formation. Escarpment management is part of the State permit. Will there be any escarpment management with the County before the start of sea turtle? Dabees added that once the project is done, Turrell Hall and team will do the bird monitoring and they will advise him on any additional environmental conditions that need to be met prior to May 1st (sea turtle season).
On the berm’s steep slope, Dabees commented that this is an active construction area, and right now, it is a truck highway only. Both sides will be graded, and the elevation adjusted by the end of the project.
According to Dabees, when you have a storm of the magnitude that we had last summer, all that storm energy and momentum is like a train that needs to stop at the station – you have to start slowing down a mile before you reach the station. The berm is the first set of brakes; thesecond set is the lagoon, and the third set are the mangroves. Energy over that space will dissipate – and if you don’t do that, you’ll find landfall at your homes and upland developments like Hideaway.
What are the options? Dabees added that they will keep re-setting at a manageable rate and wait for the next storm to come. Dabees said that they have the luxury of having a pristine ecological system that will serve as a multi-tier buffer from the storm, and they will have to maintain the effort that has been done. Right now, they have the permit authorization and plan to do it after each storm.
What is the price of sand? According to Dabees, they have moved over 100,000 to 150,000 yards of sand at a cost of about $5 a yard – and you will not find this price anywhere in the state. If you have to bring sand in from upland and place it on the beach, it will cost about $100/yard. Dabees added that the main reason they can do it efficiently is that they are very fortunate with their source of sand within our system and have designed the system where they have a sand trap and a flow channel where they can trap the sand and reuse it.
Dabees had a response to the “here we go again” mentality. If you live in a coastline that is subject to tropical storms, you have to be ready for the “here we go again.” We cannot defy the laws of nature, the laws of physics, and the environmental laws set forth by State and Federal regulations.
How about adding more vegetation to the berm? There is an area on the berm designated as a bird habitat, and according to Dabees, “we are authorized to have less than 10% vegetation on that portion of the berm. If we plan to change that, we need to go back for permit modification, and you also don’t have the longevity for dune vegetation to get established.”
Discussion on vegetation – mangroves are very hardy species, but if you add sand on top of the roots, they will suffocate those plants – according to Tim Hall of Turrell Hall and Associates. Some plants are trying to come back and hoping the flushing will open up the roots to re-establish. Hall is recommending switching to buttonwoods as they are more likely to survive with present conditions in that shoreline.
Anticipated end date: Mid-February before the start of shorebird nesting season.
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