Honeymoon Island Beach Restoration Phase I

Honeymoon Island is a state beach park located in Dunedin, Pinellas County on the southwest coast of Florida.  It is the highest attended beach state park in Florida.  A portion of the island was artificially constructed with material mined from offshore in the 1960's, and the park has had a chronic erosion problem along the gulf coast shoreline ever since.  In 1989, the Park Service placed 230,000 cy of sand along the beach front to restore the beach and protect the parking facilities but the sand washed away in less than 2 years.

 

Humiston & Moore Engineers was selected by the State DEP to design an interim project for enhanced recreational value and improved storm protection.  Honeymoon Island Beach Restoration Project Phase I is part of a two phase project.  The first phase involved placement of 140,000 cubic yards of sand from the Hurricane Pass inlet channel realignment in the ebb shoal along with construction of a low profile T-groin.  This first phase was completed in Feb. 2008.  The beach fill in the vicinity of the T-groin has held up very well.  The project has been monitored and the data was used as part of the design process for the second phase.  This project involved close coordination between Pinellas County, State DEP Parks Service, State DEP Beaches and Beach Management staff, CAMA, USACE, FWC, FWS and NMFS. 

 

Honeymoon Island Beach Restoration Phase II   

The second phase has involved designing an expanded erosion control project off of the T-groin designed, permitted and constructed under Phase I and securing a reliable sand source for enhanced recreational use and improved storm protection bordering the park facilities north of Phase I.  This project is a cooperative effort of the Florida Department Environmental Protection and Pinellas County, through Humiston and Moore Engineers. 

 

As part of the design for the second phase, the Park Service realigned the parking area to allow for a landward retreat and conversion of approximately an acre of parking surface to be converted as part of the beach and dune system.  This second phase consists of 3 T-groins and approximately 150,000 cubic yards of sand fill.  The project has received state funding and is scheduled for construction in 2014. 

 

 

Project Tasks Included:

• Hydrographic mapping

• Borrow area investigation

• Sand Compatibility Analysis

• Inlet and Nearshore Morphology Modeling

• Beach evolution modeling with proprietary N-line model 

• Wave and sediment transport modeling

• Wave and Current Data Instrumentation

• Analysis of erosion control alternatives

• Hydrodynamic modeling 

• Innovative T-groin design

• Public awareness and coordination

• State funding

• Beach nourishment

• Construction Observation

 

Scope Included:

• Alternatives Analysis

• Design and Permitting

• Contract Documents & Specifications

• Construction Observation

• Project Monitoring

• Seagrass mitigation

 

H&M Staff that worked on this project:

• Brett D. Moore, P.E., Project Manager/Project Engineer

• Mohamed Dabees, Ph.D., P.E., Regional & local coastal process modeling, nearshore and inlet morphology modeling.

• Marc Damon, Coastal Engineer, modeling and technical support

• Steve Foge, Monitoring & Analysis

• Michael Mann, AutoCAD and permitting support

• Note: SDI – hydrographic surveyor

 

Project Contact Information:

Mr. Marshall Flake

DEP Bureau of Design & Recreation Services

Office: (850) 245-3104

Email: marshall.flake@dep.state.fl.us