Crews using strong winds to help re-nourish Brevard County beaches

Strong winds helping to rebuild sand dunes

Crews in Brevard County are making the wind work for them as sand was moved around helping to rebuild miles of dunes

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Brevard County used strong winds in their favor on Wednesday to help with the $50 million beach re-nourishment project.

During the day, crews were tracking thunderstorms and keeping a close eye on lightning which would have forced safety delays. Thankfully, that wasn’t a huge issue during the system, but the biggest concern was the wind.

The county erosion manager says, how the wind was blowing actually ended up helping them with their beach re-nourishment.

The county is moving a lot of sand in a short amount of time, so weather can really put the project behind.

The crew, machinery and sand all need to be safe so miles of dunes are successfully rebuilt.

Even with strong squalls, the wind actually helped the contractors.

"The marine forecast which is what I look at is forecast for 20 knot winds gusting to 30, and while that’s a strong breeze, it’s coming from the southwest, so it’s blowing away from the beach," said county erosion manager, Mike McGarry.

McGarry says, since the wind is blowing away from the beach, it kept big waves from coming onto the sand which can pose a lot of additional issues for workers. He says operating heavy machines near the ocean isn’t the easiest thing to do.

A viewer shared video with FOX 35, showing one of those big machines on the project actually falling over while crews were working on the beaches last month.

Crews had to use another excavator to try and flip the dump truck back over and get it upright in the sand.

This is a $50 million project, so the county wants to make sure it’s done well. They have to wrap everything up by April 30 because of sea turtle nesting and are hoping weather doesn’t cause any delays.