1.2M cubic yards of sand headed to Volusia County coastline
Volusia County, Fla. - More than a million cubic yards of sand is headed to the coastline of Volusia County. This will happen over the next year and a half and be broken down into different projects in an effort to strengthen the coast.
On Tuesday, FOX 35 found crews working to fill TrapBags with sand for property owners along the coastline. It is an erosion control device that helps keep the sand in place.
The reason this system works is because the sand is contained in the bag, ensuring the sand does not wash away in the tide. A hurricane, however, is another story. But, Jessica Fentress, Volusia County's coastal director, said they can survive a couple of high-tide cycles and a nor'easter event.
"We’ve installed over 6,000 linear feet of TrapBags so far and have removed approximately 5,000 cubic yards of debris," she said.
The bags are available to any property owner along the coastline, but you will need to give the county permission to install them.
As of Tuesday, more than 300 people have expressed interest in having the bags on their property.
"Our goal is to provide as much sand as possible across our expansive coastline in a response effort," Fentress said.
The project is funded via a $5 million grant from the Florida Department of Environment Proection, which are dedicated to emergency sand placement. It's one of several recovery efforts happening after the coastline was battered by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole last year.
In the long-term, the county will be working on two larger sand dune placement projects: one coming as early as this year, and the second, the following year.
"The Rattlesnake Island sand one, which will probably happen this coming fall of 2023, and the larger Army Corp of Engineers project, which is approximately 700,000 cubic yards which we are anticipating will happen in 2024," she said.
A requirement of this permit that the county received from the state is that property owners can keep the sand but they must remove the TrapBags.