County commissioners June 7 awarded a $3.2 million contract for the construction of an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coquina Beach shore.
The work, mitigation for beach renourishment earlier this year that covered some nearshore, hardbottom habitat at Coquina, is expected to begin this summer and take about six months.
While the commission awarded the contract to Luhr Bros. Inc. of Illinois during a vote on its consent agenda June 7, some details remain under negotiation.
The contract proposes the construction of a 4.87-acre artificial limestone reef off the southern end of Anna Maria Island. Luhr Bros. will be responsible for overseeing the transportation and placement of the limestone boulders.
The company will be hauling a minimum of 13,500 boulders, each weighing about 2.5 tons, to the site.
Moving the boulders will cost about $175,000 and placing the boulders will cost about $2.9 million.
County and state officials still are discussing whether an additional 3.5 acres consisting of 23,700 tons of limestone boulders, is necessary, according to a memo from county natural resources director Charlie Hunsicker.
The hope at the county level is that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will not require the added acreage, which would add $2.1 million to the project’s pricetag.
Luhr Bros. submitted the lowest bid of eight.
The reef construction is phase two of the 2011 renourishment work.
The first phase, which involved adding sand to the beach in Anna Maria near the Sandbar Restaurant and to Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, was completed earlier this spring.
A third phase involves the placement of a geotextile tube at the jetty on the north side of Longboat Pass to keep sand from flowing from Coquina into the channel.
