Berm project starting on north end of Fort Myers Beach

The beeping sound of construction vehicles is a sound of progress on Fort Myers Beach.

The berm project on the north end of the island started on Monday.

“It’s a great feeling to finally have these things coming to fruition,” said Chadd Chustz, Environmental Projects Manager for the Town of Fort Myers Beach.

The 53,000 tons of sand will be used for the berm being built from Crescent Park near Margaritaville to Bowditch Point Park.

The berm will provide properties along the beach some protection from storm surge impacts.

“This project was to try and get some sand in quickly before storm season,” Chustz said.

Since season is slowing down, the dump trucks won’t create traffic on the island.

People traveling to Fort Myers Beach on Monday didn’t have any issues coming to the beach.

“We were behind a dump truck on our way over,” said Heather Flora, a visitor from Michigan. “It didn’t stop or slow up traffic either.”

“Not at all,” said Carl Haines, who lives in Cape Coral. “As a matter of fact, we got down here at a pretty good time.”

Carl Haines and his friend Albert Hart were sitting on the beach near the noisy equipment, but they weren’t bothered by the construction.

“It’s a small sacrifice,” Haines said. “I mean, for real. It’s got to be done.”

“It has no bearing on the view you see behind you,” said Hart.

While the 6-foot berm protects properties along the beach from overwash, it also gives sea turtles a better nesting habitat.

“We were very happy to see that the emergence and the hatching rate success inside the berm was 70% plus,” Chustz said.

The $1.89 million project is being funded entirely by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and is expected to be finished by next month.

The Town’s beach renourishment project, which will pump sand from offshore out of the gulf, is set to begin in June.