Project Overview
The historic Port Boca Grande Lighthouse within Gasparilla Island State Park is the oldest structure on the island, having provided a beacon
for mariners’ safe passage through Boca Grande Pass since 1890. Other beach access boardwalks at this State Park have been rendered inaccessible and closed due to extensive erosion of the beach up to and including the frontal dune. Weiler Engineering Corporation (WEC) inspected the site and existing boardwalk and provided recommendations to FDEP, that being to demolish and replace with a vastly improved beach access structure. This high profile project adjacent to the historic lighthouse, and required a creative design that maximized longevity and Return on Investment of public funds while staying within the design requirements for expendable minor structures that are permissible seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL). Environmental constraints to design including the presence of tortoise burrows and sea turtle nesting areas were also carefully factored into the design to avoid conflicts or disturbance. Weiler worked closely with FDEP Bureau of Building Construction (BDC) and Park staff and FDEP CCCL Reviewer 
to develop a design that paralleled the erosion face along the landward side of the frontal dune, before crossing the dune at the protected point of a buried coastal armoring structure (rock jetty), thereby minimizing the possibility of future erosion to this particular beach access boardwalk. Construction was completed one week before Hurricane Irma, and subsequent inspection revealed there was no substantial damage to the structure.
